As You Like It (2006)

Branagh seems to have "learned his lesson" from the box-office failure of Love's Labour's Lost; there's no singing and dancing and it's a by-the-numbers edited adaptation of the play -- yes, the setting has been moved to medieval Japan, but changes of setting are commonplace; while in college, I saw Theater Intime put on the Tempest in an abandoned subway station -- unfortunately, this means it's very bland.  The exceptions are Bryce Dallas Howard, who is *great* as Rosalind, evoking memories of Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, and Brian Blessed, who is excellent in the dual role of Duke Senior / Duke Frederick.  Everyone else is at least passable; the supporting cast is fine, but never really shine as in other Branagh productions.

In fact, the best part of the film is the Epilogue, delivered by Bryce Dallas Howard "in character" as Rosalind but "off camera" in the sense that it's filmed like one of those "behind the scenes" segments that's added to DVD releases where they follow the actors around the set.  This conceit was brilliant, and leaves one wondering if Branagh could have done more with it...

So, did I like it better than Love's Labour's Lost?  Well... As You Like It never reaches the lows of the really bad parts of Love's Labour's Lost, but there Branagh is reaching for something unique, and so the highs of that film are much higher than As You Like It.  For me, it's a toss-up (ooh, though I'd love to go back in time and remake L3 with Bryce Dallas Howard cast as the Princess of France, assuming she can sing a little).