Review: THESE PAPER BULLETS! Makes Much Ado About Beatlemania

The idea behind Rolin Jones' THESE PAPER BULLETS! is just so good; a blatant rip-off of Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING styled as one of Richard Lester's farcical, swinging Beatles movies.

On top of that, add Billie Joe Armstrong, who can probably write ten catchy riffs a day before breakfast, writing Fab Four pastiche numbers that strongly suggest hit tunes like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and "Please, Please Me," yet have a vibrancy all their own.

And at first it looks like it's going to be a fun night, beginning with a shticky Scotland Yard scene involving a Dogberry stand-in named Mr. Berry (Greg Stuhr) and a faux-newsreel titled "What Is Wrong With The Youth Of England?," where we learn of the meteoric rise of a former skiffle band called The Oxfordians, who ditch their inept drummer Don Best (Adam O'Byrne), replace him with his brother, Pedro (James Barry), and set young girls' hearts ablaze playing rock and roll as The Quartos.

The film fades to the real-live boys playing their chart-topper "Give It All To You," and THESE PAPER BULLETS! looks like it's going to be a smashing good time.

The Beatrice and Benedick subs are mod fashion designer Bea (terrific Nicole Parker sporting a Mary Quant bob) and The Quartos' lead singer, confirmed bachelor Ben (Justin Kirk). As with The Bard's tale, these two are so abrasive towards each other that you know they'll be matched up before the final blackout.

Filling in for secondary lovers Hero and Claudio are the Twiggy-like Higgy (Ariana Venturi) and band member Claude (Bryan Fenkart). The scorned Don Best fakes a scandal to break up their upcoming nuptials and, in true rock and roll fashion, the duped Claude writes a hit song about it.

The parallels work and Jones' script has clever moments involving a record being played backwards for secret messages and the skepticism over the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, but the overwritten text is full of soggy dialogue and extended bits (one involving stabbing people with a sedative-infused pen) that aren't especially funny.

Those seated on the aisle of the right side of the house may be subjected to involuntary audience participation as their faces are projected onto large screens while a news reporter refers to them as celebrities in the house. (I can tell you from experience, it's involuntary.)

Jackson Gay's frothy direction is built on fun splashes of the mod era and the capable cast dives right in, but the indisputable highlights of the piece come any time the boys dig into Armstrong's jaunty lyrics and bouncy melodies. A new musical from this composer/lyricist is definitely in order.

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