Film Snail

Romeo + Juliet
Romeo + Juliet

6.8

Romeo + Juliet

PG-13·1996·120m

Summary

In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.

Crew

Director, Screenplay

Baz Luhrmann

Author

William Shakespeare

Screenplay

Craig Pearce

Reviews

r96sk

r96sk

May 4, 2021

8

Part 2 of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy: <em>'Romeo + Juliet'</em>.

I remember watching a little bit of this years and years back at high school and I seem to recall enjoying it a lot. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I might've on this viewing, but it is still a film I'd recommend for sure - it's very good.

I'm yet to see a bad - heck, even a just mildly good - film from Leonardo DiCaprio, which remains the case after this. It's probably the weakest performance I've seen from DiCaprio so far, though that's just through process of elimination as he's still impressive here as Romeo. Claire Danes (Juliet) merits props, also.

John Leguizamo (Tybalt) is the pick of the rest of the cast, which also includes the likes of Paul Sorvino, Miriam Margolyes and Paul Rudd. Speaking of the casting, apparently 14-year-old Natalie Portman was originally cast to star alongside DiCaprio (then 21... dodgy!).

I love the modern day set up and how they bring this famous tale to life in it, though I do think the choice to use Shakespearean dialogue was perhaps the wrong call. It's not like I didn't appreciate it, but it does feel a bit forced and unnatural at times - still cool that they did it, mind.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$14,500,000.00

Revenue:

$147,298,761.00

Keywords

suicide
gang war
forbidden love
based on play or musical
murder
gun violence
star crossed lovers
shakespeare in modern dress
teenage romance
masquerade
ironic
romeo & juliet
absurd
incredulous
disapproving
dubious
frustrated
indifferent
tragic