Movie Review: Romeo and Juliet

Before seeing the new movie, my only “Romeo and Juliet” experience came from 9th grade English when we read the play in class and saw the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Honestly, this version came off and unnatural and a little awkward to me. So I was excited to see a less unique (this earlier version is set in modern-day California, giving a strange impression with the Shakespearean language) rendition of the timeless play.

Despite seeing a review that said the movie was “tragically” casted, I was glad to see some names I recognized in the cast list when I researched it before going. Playing Juliet was Hailee Steinfeld, who I remembered since she was my age. And, of course, Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl (Ed Westwick) played Tybalt. Watching the trailer helped bring back some of the Shakespearean language that was sometimes hard to decipher. I remembered finding it difficult to get the true meaning of the words through the early modern English language. Going in to the movie, I was worried that I would miss some of the language and that I wouldn’t remember who was on which side (Capulet or Montague).

These worries grew through the first couple scenes of the movie. I couldn’t tell who was who at first, and some of the language went right over my head. But as I got more absorbed into the setting, the language problem went away. There were a few lines I didn’t get, but I could tell what they were trying to say most of the time. And keeping the sides straight wasn’t a problem because as the barrier between the two grew and hatred was more openly expressed, it became pretty clear that Tybalt hates Romeo and therefore is a Capulet, and that Benvolio and Mercutio were Montagues since they are always at Romeo’s side.

One of the best parts of the movie was the incredible scenery. The medieval castles look like realistic versions of the castles in Disney princess movies. The gardens and landscape around the actors seem like they are from a fairytale. Nothing compares to the beautiful, rolling hills of the Italian countryside.

The acting was pretty good overall. Although Hailee Steinfeld is young and relatively inexperienced (her only previous major role was in “True Grit”), it works for her role of naïve Juliet. Even though I had never heard of him before, Douglas Booth lives up to Dicaprio’s performance as Romeo definitely lived up to my expectations. He made Romeo seem sure yet naïve, just how he is supposed to be.  All the supporting actors, especially Westwick, Lesley Manville (Juliet’s Nurse), Paul Giamatti (Friar Laurence), and Damian Lewis (Lord Capulet), played their characters extremely well.

The biggest acting flaw I noticed was the lack of romance between Steinfeld and Booth. They don’t quite give the initial impression of the kind of love at first sight that makes them want to get married right away, although they do kiss several times each time they see each other throughout the movie. They make up for this somewhat with the death scene, which is as intense as it should be, especially when Steinfeld pushes a knife right into the middle of her chest to kill herself.

All in all, this version of “Romeo and Juliet” was definitely worth seeing as a new traditional take on a timeless love story.