SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST

"LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST"
(2000) (Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	None	Minor	None	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	None	None	Minor	None

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Mild	None	Minor	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Musical/Romantic Comedy: A King and his three friends find their several-year quest of abstaining from romance challenged when they fall for a visiting Princess and her attendants.

PLOT:

It's 1939 and the King of Navarre (ALESSANDRO NIVOLA) has returned from military maneuvers with an audacious plan for himself and his friends, Berowne (KENNETH BRANAGH), Longaville (MATTHEW LILLARD) and Dumaine (ADRIAN LESTER). The King wants them to devote themselves to a three year program of self-improvement that involves studying, fasting, little sleep and even less - in fact, no - romance.

As such, no women will be allowed in the court save for Holofernia (GERALDINE McEWAN), the King's principal tutor who, with the aid of Sir Nathaniel (RICHARD BRIERS), tries to improve the men's minds and spirits respectively. That plan runs into a serious complication, however, upon the arrival of the Princess of France (ALICIA SILVERSTONE) and her attendants, Rosaline (NATASCHA McELHONE), Maria (CARMEN EJOGO) and Katherine (EMILY MORTIMER).

Having heard of the King's decree, the Princess sends her assistant, Boyet (RICHARD CLIFFORD), to check on its validity, but the King and his friends are preoccupied with another development. A Spanish nobleman, Don Armado (TIMOTHY SPALL), has arrived in town and fallen for the voluptuous Jaquenetta (STEFANIA ROCCA) who was spotted with the court's vaudevillian clown, Costard (NATHAN LANE), thus defying the King's order.

Things become even more complicated when the four men and women finally meet and sparks immediately fly between the four potential couples. As the King and his men try to maintain their no-romance pledge, they must contend with incorrectly delivered love letters and other comic mishaps, the effort of trying to hide their feelings toward the women, and even the outbreak of WWII.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Unless they're fans of Shakespeare, old-fashioned musicals or someone in the cast, it's not very likely.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For sensuality and a brief drug reference.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: ALESSANDRO NIVOLA plays the King who comes up with the idea of ruling out romance for himself and his friends, but then finds that he can't live by such rules when he falls for the Princess.
KENNETH BRANAGH, MATTHEW LILLARD and ADRIAN LESTER play his friends who find themselves in the same boat and briefly drink.
ALICIA SILVERSTONE plays the Princess of France, a headstrong woman who knows what she wants.
NATASCHA McELHONE, EMILY MORTIMER and CARMEN EJOGO plays her attendants, all of whom briefly drink and smoke with the latter actress doing the most of that second activity.
NATHAN LANE plays the court's vaudevillian clown, while TIMOTHY SPALL plays a visiting Spanish nobleman, both of who fall for Jaquenetta.
STEFANIA ROCCA plays that voluptuous woman who shows a great deal of cleavage.; KENNETH BRANAGH, MATTHEW LILLARD and ADRIAN LESTER play his friends who find themselves in the same boat and briefly drink.
ALICIA SILVERSTONE plays the Princess of France, a headstrong woman who knows what she wants.
NATASCHA McELHONE, EMILY MORTIMER and CARMEN EJOGO plays her attendants, all of whom briefly drink and smoke with the latter actress doing the most of that second activity.
NATHAN LANE plays the court's vaudevillian clown, while TIMOTHY SPALL plays a visiting Spanish nobleman, both of who fall for Jaquenetta.
STEFANIA ROCCA plays that voluptuous woman who shows a great deal of cleavage.; ALICIA SILVERSTONE plays the Princess of France, a headstrong woman who knows what she wants.
NATASCHA McELHONE, EMILY MORTIMER and CARMEN EJOGO plays her attendants, all of whom briefly drink and smoke with the latter actress doing the most of that second activity.
NATHAN LANE plays the court's vaudevillian clown, while TIMOTHY SPALL plays a visiting Spanish nobleman, both of who fall for Jaquenetta.
STEFANIA ROCCA plays that voluptuous woman who shows a great deal of cleavage.; NATASCHA McELHONE, EMILY MORTIMER and CARMEN EJOGO plays her attendants, all of whom briefly drink and smoke with the latter actress doing the most of that second activity.
NATHAN LANE plays the court's vaudevillian clown, while TIMOTHY SPALL plays a visiting Spanish nobleman, both of who fall for Jaquenetta.
STEFANIA ROCCA plays that voluptuous woman who shows a great deal of cleavage.; NATHAN LANE plays the court's vaudevillian clown, while TIMOTHY SPALL plays a visiting Spanish nobleman, both of who fall for Jaquenetta.
STEFANIA ROCCA plays that voluptuous woman who shows a great deal of cleavage.; STEFANIA ROCCA plays that voluptuous woman who shows a great deal of cleavage.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this PG rated romantic musical comedy. A sensuous but lively dance number involves the four couples dancing in a somewhat suggestive manner (including some grinding and caressing - all clothed), and another features a man who briefly does some suggestive pelvic thrusting. A few non-explicit, but sexually related comments are made, various women show plenty of cleavage and the camera occasionally focuses on various parts of women's bodies (as does the gaze of some men).

A song includes a brief reference to cocaine (during which we briefly see a minor character look up with what's presumably the powered drug on his face), while some drinking and smoking also occurs. Beyond that, there's a little slapstick humor, some WWII era newsreel footage showing non-graphic warfare (canons firing, bombs dropping, etc.), and one character gets the news that her father has died.

The film's remaining categories, however, have little or nothing in the way of other major objectionable content. Nonetheless, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our more detailed content listings.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Various characters, including Maria, have champagne.
Armado sings "I Get a Kick Out of You" that includes lines that he gets no kick from champagne but that some get a kick from cocaine (during this, his assistant looks up from a table and has white dust all over his face, suggesting that it's cocaine).
During some newsreel footage, the women drink champagne, and in the present, we see them again with drinks.
All four women have drinks again, while the four men drink shots.
We see some people drinking in newsreel footage.
In newsreel footage, people celebrate the end of the War with champagne.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: The women playfully don masks to conceal their identities and confuse their male suitors.
Although all agree that the King's no-women decree is silly, Costard defies the rules by being seen with Jaquenetta.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: None.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Pistol: Carried by Armado's assistant.
We see some newsreel footage of canons firing and bombs dropping during WWII (along with sounds of gunfire) as we also see shots of burning and/or collapsing buildings. We also see various people carrying rifles and handguns, a person who appears to have been shot (but there's no blood) and then footage from the Normandy invasion.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Wench."
During a musical number, one of the men does some brief, but suggestive pelvic thrusting. Moments later, the King mocks this and does some of his own.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): Armado sings "I Get a Kick Out of You" that includes lines that he gets no kick from champagne but that some get a kick from cocaine.

PROFANITY: None.

SEX/NUDITY: A woman shows cleavage in the low-cut outfits she wears.
Costard comically gestures as if he's squeezing an imaginary woman's breasts like bicycle horns (and makes the accompanying beep-beep sounds).
Jaquenetta shows a great deal of cleavage throughout the movie.
A comment is made about a woman being a wench, and then that's she not a wench but a damsel, and then not a damsel but a virgin. Costard then states that he denies her virginity, stating that she was a maid who "served" a man.
Armado stares at a woman's clothed butt and his assistant and Costard do the same to a woman's clothed butt as she sashays away.
During a musical number, we see close-ups of various women in one-piece bathing suits in a swimming pool.
Holofernia asks "Virgin?" to one of the young women who just knowingly smiles.
During a musical number, one of the men does some brief, but suggestive pelvic thrusting. Moments later, the King mocks this and does some of his own.
During a musical number, the four men and women do something approximating "dirty dancing" (sensual movement with bodies close to one another and some grinding & caressing, and the sight of the women who wear short skirts with stockings and also show cleavage). During this, the camera occasionally and briefly focuses in close on their clothed butts/crotches.

SMOKING: Maria and Boyet smoke several times, while Rosaline briefly smokes during a musical number. Meanwhile, Armado has a cigar in his mouth, Holofernia smokes in newsreel footage, Berowne puts an unlit cigarette into Boyet's mouth, but then pulls it out, and all four women briefly smoke in one scene.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: The Princess learns that her father has died.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Writer/director Branagh's clever substitution of old show tunes for Shakespeare's original dialogue.

VIOLENCE: A person smacks Costard on the head.
Not paying attention to what he's doing during a musical number, Armado accidentally knees his assistant in the crotch and head-butts another person.
We see that Armado has tied up the constable so that Costard could go free.
We see some newsreel footage of canons firing and bombs dropping during WWII (along with sounds of gunfire) as we also see shots of burning and/or collapsing buildings. We also see various people carrying rifles and handguns, a person who appears to have been shot (but there's no blood) and then footage from the Normandy invasion.

Reviewed May 15, 2000 / Posted June 23, 2000

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