Actor/director
Kenneth Branagh sets his screen version of Shakespeare's play in the 1930s, adding such classic songs as "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and staging it in the manner of a
Fred Astaire-
Ginger Rogers musical. The King of Navarre (Allesandro Nivola) and three of his noblemen (Branagh,
Matthew Lillard, and Adrien Lester) have decided that they're wasting their time chasing women. They swear a solemn oath to spend the next three years avoiding the pitfalls of romance and improving their minds. No sooner have they made this agreement than they meet a French princess (
Alicia Silverstone) and her three handmaidens (
Natascha McElhone,
Carmen Ejogo, and
Emily Mortimer). The pledge is forgotten and the chase is on. Love's Labour's Lost also features
Nathan Lane,
Timothy Spall, and Paul Whitehouse. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide