Shakespeare wrote many love stories in his time, one of them being Much Ado About Nothing, in which (unlike in Romeo and Juliet) none of the lovers actually die. The fact that they do not die, however, does not mean that the love between Beatrice and Benedick is ideal. In fact, whilst reading the play, one might feel that this pairing is one of the most toxic of all of Shakespeare's couples (although, is there any other type of romance when it comes to Shakespeare?). One aspect of love that is clearly lacking in the original play of Much Ado About Nothing is that of tenderness. Luckily for audiences of Beatrice and Benedick, Kenneth Branagh manages to remedy this lack of tenderness through his casting and directing choices in his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. In this movie, Emma Thompson and Kevin Branagh, playing Beatrice and Benedick respectively, show an almost syrupy sweet amount of affection towards one another in comparison to that which their characters show in the original play.

In the original play, the audience is immediately introduced to the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick through Leonato's comment that "There is/ a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her," (Much Ado About Nothing, 1.1.57-58). Though called merry, the exchanges that go on between Benedick and Beatrice, from their first encounter to the end of the play, are easy to interpret as malicious and manipulative. Were it not for the cheery attitudes that both Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh put forth from the beginning, the audience of the movie would likely have fallen into the same belief that readers of the original play that this "merry war" is founded on barely concealed hatred. However, a combination of excited delivery of lines and camera angles that reveal hidden emotions allows the reader to see that the characters actually do enjoy each others' company and even feel wistful for their lost affections. For example, early in Thompson's performance, she delivers the lines "You always end with a jade's trick. I know/ you of old," (1.1.139-140) after Benedick has turned away from the camera, her face emoting a yearning expression.

The audience's impression that Thompson's Beatrice still longs for her previous relationship with Benedick is further reinforced during an exchange with Don Pedro. Beatrice states,"Indeed, my lord, he lent it to me awhile, and I/ gave him use for it, a double heart for his single one," (2.1.265-267), solidifying that she and Benedick were an item for a time. This quote in the original play is read with an air of scorn and even malice, yet in Emma Thompson's performance, the lines are delivered with a clear level of melancholy and reminiscence. The comment leads to a conversation that Beatrice has with Don Pedro, and Beatrice comments that she is "sunburnt" (2.1.304), hinting that she has suffered for that which other women have so longed for. Thompson and her co-star Denzel Washington deliver this conversation with heartfelt empathy towards one another. Thompson's intonation offers the audience the sense that Beatrice feels sadly for that which she lost when she and Benedick had their falling out.

Thanks to this early establishment of Beatrice's wistfulness towards her relationship with Benedick, Beatrice's sudden blossoming of love for Benedick later in the play (no longer feels abrupt or out of place the way that the change feels whilst reading the original play. Thompson's earlier lines and her delivery of them establish that there were leftover feelings of regret and mourning over the loss of the relationship that Beatrice and Benedick once had. Thankfully for Beatrice, the readers know that her feelings are not in vain due to their witnessing of Benedick's reaction to overhearing Don Pedro discussing with Claudio and Leonato how "...your niece Beatrice was in love with Signor/ Benedick?" (3.2.93). Upon learning that Beatrice actually does hold affection for him, such that she cannot sleep for the intensity with which she adores him (3.2.135), Benedick begins to consider what this revelation might mean for him. He comes to the perfectly sound and logical conclusion that he must whole-heartedly reciprocate Beatrice's love for him, and reflects on all of her wonderful attributes (3.2.221).

Up to this point in the play, Benedick appears to have been on par with Beatrice in the line of thinking that they are trading combative banter and no more. Here, however, he is suddenly overtaken by a great and inimitable adoration for Beatrice, stating, "They say the lady is fair; 'tis a truth, I can bear them/ witness; and virtuous; 'tis so, I cannot reprove it;/ and wise but not for loving me; by my troth, it is no/ addition to her wit, nor great argument of her folly,/for I will be horribly in love with her," (2.3.227-231). Many of the characteristics which he praises here are the very ones that he berates earlier in the play, such as her quick tongue, which he compared to a horse, wishing that his "horse had the speed of your tongue and so good a continuer," (1.1.136-137). After overhearing that Beatrice is in love with him, however, he appears to suddenly change his mind in regards to the very traits that he scorned earlier. Branagh's performance also shows this change to not have been sudden, but rather believable thanks to the regretful way that both Benedick and Beatrice speak of their past interactions with each other.

The last scene is yet another example where the audience can perceive a distinct lack of tenderness between the characters of Beatrice and Benedick. Suddenly, the two characters are mutually faced with what they each have thought of as the other's affections for them; Benedick claims that he loves Beatrice "... no more than reason," (5.4.75), while Beatrice states that she doesn't love Benedick "... but in friendly recompense," (5.4.81). It seems to the readers that the characters are reverting to their old ways, and that the sudden passion that they felt towards one another was nothing more than excitement, similar to that of having caught a particularly difficult fish. Emma Thompson and Kevin Branagh manage to inflect a sense of nervousness to this scene, however, so that rather than their words being simply a reversion foreshadowing a repetitious pattern of abusive language in their future relationship, they instead appear to ramble and fumble, only reverting to teasing because it is where they feel most secure in this moment of vulnerability. This awkward search for assurance, coupled with their earlier behaviors towards one another and their apparent pining for each other since the beginning of the play, allows this scene to become a cute and bashful exchange. Thus, the audience is witness to a charming interaction between two lovesick people rather than a scathing revelation of honest feelings.

The performances of Emma Thompson and Kevin Branagh give audience members a glimpse at the history that Beatrice and Benedick have with one another - a history that shows that they have the potential to foster a relationship founded on respect and tenderness. Though this history is briefly mentioned, the tenderness is lost behind the constant bickering and tone of anger that is forefront in the original play. Through their evocative performances, Thompson and Branagh manage to portray two characters who are fighting their mutual feelings of love for one another, rather than two characters who are simply fighting each other. This insertion of tenderness in the interactions between Beatrice and Benedick creates a solid foundation for the characters to then build a relationship that the audience can readily believe and feel sympathy towards, a trait that the original text fails to deliver.