Grade: A-
Steven Spielberg has been wanting to remake West Side Story for most of his life. He is the perfect choice to direct such an iconic epic piece from the musical theatre canon – and overall, succeeds with flying colors. It is the usual Spielbergian spectacle; his stamp is unmistakably on it.
We know by now that the story is based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Watching this 2021 adaptation, I was reminded that I’ve never been too crazy about the two leads, and have always been more interested in the supporting characters. Their love story never affected me too much. They JUST met at a dance, and are immediately professing undying love for one another, and going to drastic, abrupt, obsessive measures when they’ve only known each other for less than a week. They seem like sweet kids, but it’s hard for me to feel too much sympathy. With R&J, give me Friar Laurence, the Prince, the Nurse, Mercutio, Benvolio, etc. any day. I find them more fun and fascinating. Same deal with WSS. Give me Anita, Riff, Doc, the numerous Jets and Sharks (I love that they’ve all been given names – looks better on a resume than “ensemble”), and even Glad Hand.
Speaking of Glad Hand, Mike Iveson – in this 2021 version – takes what’s usually a minor “grown-up” role (he’s the one at the dance who gives instructions on how to do the circle-up partner thing), and makes it supremely memorable. I love what he brought to it in the little screen time he had. Ariana DeBose is an infectiously spunky Anita. It’s always nice to see Brian d’Arcy James. I’ve been following his progress for 20+ years. He was a Broadway/regional/national tour actor for a long time (I saw him in Chess at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in 1999), and in the last few years has broken into the movie business with significant roles opposite big stars in films like Spotlight and Molly’s Game. And here, he does the honors as Officer Krupke. 90-year-old actress Rita Moreno, who was Anita in the 1961 West Side Story, is in this one too. This is more than a case of giving a cast member from the original film a cameo in the remake. I will not dare spoil how she’s used here. I’m glad I didn’t know; I think it should be found out for the first time in the cinema. It is an effective master stroke. But my favorite performance comes from Mike Faist as Riff. Stick thin with a nasal cartoonish voice and undying commitment to both character and choreography, he looks thoroughly authentic, like he was plucked from mid-20th century New York, and – for my money – walks away with the movie.
Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, The Fault in Our Stars) are our Tony and Maria. They are fine, solid anchors, if not flashy. The supporting cast yanks the rug out from under them – these can be thankless leading roles. Elgort’s two solos (“Something’s Coming” and “Maria”) were significantly transposed down for him, which was distracting for me. The spectacle is in the exciting group numbers. “Jet Song,” “Quintet,” “Cool,” “Gee, Officer Krupke,” “America” – all of these pop. I wasn’t thrilled with the lyric change in “I Feel Pretty.” Certain words have more than one definition; no need to make everything politically correct. (Edit: it was brought to my attention that the lyric in this new version WAS the original lyric, and they changed it in the 1961 movie to what became the more well-known lyric. I’m leaving the review as I wrote it, but adding this footnote, in case others had the same misconception I did.)
West Side Story won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1962. Will Spielberg’s film snag that same honor 60 years later? Could be. Who knows?
Grade: A-
Film Reviews by Mark 
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