Charity's Place

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S

ROMEO + JULIET

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: transvestites, sexual content

Rated:

"In fair Verona our stage is set, between two families of Montague and Capulet." This modern-translated version of the classic play by William Shakespeare has been given the once-over the MTV generation with fast-moving close-ups and jaxzz tunes. Their attempt to set the fated tail in modern-times fails miserably and turns out only a half-witted piece of junk with a few sparkling moments otherwise overshadowed by poor elements of "humor" and ill-fitting dialogue. The story begins with an item of news on television of two fated young lovers taking their lives, and we are introduced to the story in a long flashback when the Montague's and the Capulets crash heads at a gas station in Verona. They are arrested and threatened, but the families are not otherwise touched by the law.

That night the Capulets throw a masquerade and Romeo and his cousins see fair to sneak in. Enter Juliet, the beautiful young heroine who captures Romeo's heart. Their forbidden and secret love affair leads to the marriage alter and eventually to the grave. Leanardo DiCaprio plays at Romeo but never quite achieves the level of greatness you would expect. Claire Danes is very convincing as Juliet, a part she plays well despite the blandness of the script. Had she been in a less-modern Shakespearian film, I believe she would have shone quite brilliantly. The update feels corny and stupid at best, with many moments where you want to cover your eyes and groan at the butchery of Shakespeare's dialogue. The first forty minutes of the film are nothing less than offensive from a Christian standpoint. Romeo's cousins act provocatively toward any woman that passes, even to a bus full of Catholic school girls.

The MTV-wannabe of the shootout is embarrassingly bad and over-acted and Romeo's cousin tops the night off by coming dressing in drag as a woman to the masked ball, wearing a short, glittery skirt and skimpy top. Juliet's mom prances around in an awful, revealing outfit. The dialogue doesn't fit the setting given by the camera. There's plenty of innuendo if you can catch Shakespeare's meaning (probably most instances will be overlooked by the average crowd) and a sensual setting for Romeo and Juliet's first night together. We see her bare back numerous times as she and Romeo fool around. Violence is abundant with gunplay, fistfights, and quarrels. There are a few moments that shine, particularly the young lover's first kiss (which reminds me hauntingly of an elevator sequence in Titanic...) and other moments at the ball. The death scene is played well, if not as well as it might have been, and the film leaves you with the feeling that your two-plus hours could have been better spent somewhere else. If they want to modernize Shakespeare, they must translate it into every-day dialogue. It fails miserably otherwise.