LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST
Kenneth Branagh directs "and" stars in "LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST," just released on dvd from BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT.  In this romantic comedy/musical, Branagh plays one of three friends who've committed to forsaking love in the quest for intellect.  Their plans go awry after the princess of France shows up with her three beautiful friends.  Branagh obviously intended for a chemistry to be conveyed onscreen between the sexes, but it's just not there!   In fact, nothing seems balanced.
Characters jump into musical dance numbers that just don't work and when it should be embarrassing enough just to be seen in this film, they're given horrible slapstick to perform, which again, doesn't work!  Henny Youngman wouldn't  steal a joke from this film!   Alicia Silverstone as the princess of France is miscast, but then the script is miswritten and the film is "mis"directed!  The only thing worth watching in the film is Natascha
McElhone, an actress of stunning beauty, worthy of much better than she's given here.  The actors deserve credit for finishing the film, which is more than most viewers will do.  Even at just over 90 minutes, the film moves at a very slow pace.
 
The transfer from BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT is decent, but not up to the standards they typically set. The film is presented in its correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio with 16:9 enhancement. Unfortunately, it doesn't share the fine detail so often associated with the studios' usual dvd releases.
The overall image tends to be soft.  There's no grain and fleshtones are
natural looking, but there is also some minor artifacting present.  The
colors values are generally solid.
The dolby digital 5.1 sound mix isn't extremely aggressive, although it
manages to engulf the audience during the musical numbers.  The dialogue is always intelligible, but there are no difficult layers of sound effects either.

BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT has surprisingly added an extensive amount of
supplements on this release!
To begin with, there are outtakes!  These consist of the kinds of outtakes
typically seen at the end of a Burt Reynolds movie.  Actors are flubbing
their lines, or just simply breaking into laughter.
The best section belongs to the "deleted scenes."  There are plenty of them here!  In fact, the deleted scenes section is a great deal more fun than the actual film is!  While it's obvious that several of them were better left on the editing room floor, several are actually entertaining and could've livened the film up!  One of the dvd drawbacks lies in the inability of the viewer to view single scenes.  They all play without any breaking.
There is a featurette offered with "behind-the-scenes" footage, focused on the rehearsals for the dance numbers with the cast.