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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
People who know me know that I am really not into musicals. It takes quite a lot for me to watch a musical. I MEAN A LOT! I looked at AFI’s list of greatest musicals of all time, and yep, epic fail on my part. I’ve seen Wizard of OZ; Mary Poppins, and I’m not going to count any of the animated films. Hell! I haven’t even seen Singin’ in the Rain. A side note: I am going to say that 42nd Street is not a musical. It’s a film about making a musical, but to me, it is not a true musical. Yet, my curiosity was pretty high for this film. Not because it was a musical but for the simple fact that it won 10 Academy Awards. Yep! 10 freakin Academy Awards for a musical. Wizard of Oz never won that many, and that is one of the few musicals I will watch over and over again. Now, the American Film Institute loves this film. It ranked it #41 in 100 Movies and the #51 in their 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition). It also ranked it #3 in 100 Passions, #2 for Greatest Musicals, and has three of its songs in the top 100: “Somewhere” at #20, “America” at #35, and “Tonight” at #59
Have you ever seen, read or watch a movie on Romeo and Juliet? Well, that is what West Side Story is but modernized in this film. In the late 1950s summer, Shakespeare’s story hits the streets of New York’s Upper West Side. Two gangs fight for control. On one side are the Jets, a gang of rebellious second-generation New Yorkers led by Riff (Tamblyn). On the other side are the Sharks, a brass gang of Puerto Rican immigrants led by Bernardo (Chakiris). As the two sides fight for control, Tony (Beymer), a former Jet and co-founder, falls madly in love with Maria (Wood), Bernardo’s little sister. As the two try to make their romance blossom, the world will put them on separate sides. Will their love be able to survive?
I will not lie, but the first impression I got of this film is the wonderful meme where the character has his finger up about to ask a question and then puts his finger back down. The dancing was actually outstanding, but it made me think of something else when watching certain dance sections. The story was okay because I’ve seen it before. The songs were actually good, and I was quite impressed with them. I still have a tough time placing this film over Wizard of Oz.
Let’s start off with the story. This film is literally Romeo and Juliet but with dancing. Well, first, it was a play, and the play was inspired by Romeo and Juliet. If the film, you have two street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, that fight each other over and over. There is a cop that seems to hold law and order—same thing in Romeo and Juliet. Have the House Montague and House Capulet with the Prince doing his thing. Just like in Romeo and Juliet, two people from the rival gangs fall madly in love at first sight. Don’t get me wrong, if you know you have a story that works, might as well roll with it. When in doubt, take a Shakespeare play and add some dancing to it or other things. Shakespeare plays, when done right, will get you those Academy Awards.
Yet the film, in a way, makes the Shakespeare play seem more modern. First, rather than having people dress up in those 1600 suits, they brought the action to the mean streets of New York. You want to make a movie more modern, place it in NYC. What I like was having the rival gangs be from different races. One was white and the other Puerto Rican. Now let me get this out of the way first. You couldn’t find a person of Puerto Rican descent to be the main character? Then I remembered that this was the 1960s. That first 15 minutes was really good with the whole fight scene. The film did a great job keeping it all modern. The ball in the play becomes a dance that turns into one big, “you better not dance with my girl!”
The love story comes in with Maria and Tony. Just like in Romeo and Juliet, they meet at a dance. As Maria walks through the door, Tony falls in love at first sight. I’m talking the googly eyes, time slowing down type of love at first sight. The movie shows how the love blooms between both characters but like in Romeo and Juliet, things NEVER work out as they planned with people dying and friendships ruined.
I want to put this out there. The choreography was outstanding in this film. Once again, I’m not big on watching dancing in movies, but this one was really good. The dancing was theatrical and over the top, especially when it came to the “fight” scenes. I will say this, I know where Michael Jackson got his inspiration for the music video to “Beat It.” I don’t care what anyone says. When Bernardo and Riff pull out their knives for their fight, Michael Jackson “Beat It” blasted in my head because it looks almost the same exact thing. I got a good laugh. Homeboy even wore a red shirt to the fight, and they both had gangs. Once again, you can’t tell me inspiration didn’t come from this film with that music video. You could probably play the song along with the fight, and it might match up perfectly.
My personal favorite and the song that I thought was the best was “America.” No song seems so right today, then it was back then. First, the song is really catchy and one that could get stuck in your head. For the lyrics, it shows the real difference in the way people might see race. On one side, you hear the argument on how great America is and what you can achieve. Still, the other side of the song is a rebuttal on how people view a particular race as a lower class.
There are definitely some love songs in this film. First, there is “Maria.” The song is a love ballad to the main female character. If you looking for a song to pour your heart out for someone, then this is the one. “Somewhere” is another song where the two characters sing their hearts out for each other in a display of love and affection. Once again, the love songs are really not for me.
The surprise song that I actually enjoyed was “Gee, Officer Krupke.” This song is definitely a fun-loving, joking song. It is a song that makes fun of the police officer as one of the gains just brutalizes the officer—a one-sided roasting.
First, way back when whitewashing was cool. Making white people into a race they are not. Taking roles from others, but this is America for you. The acting was good. Some characters stood out way more than others. For the two main stars: Natalie Wood as Maria was okay. She played the cute, innocent girl but sure did snap at the end. That is when you really see some fire in this girl. Richard Beymer as Tony was okay also. He played the level head member who didn’t want to hurt anyone. Both characters were your standard love birds.
The three people that actually stole the whole movie were: Russ Tamblyn as Riff. Russ did a great job as Riff. He was funny, tough, cool, and everything else you wanted in a gang leader. Rita Moreno, as Anita, won the Academy Award for her role, and she earned it. She was that sassy, smart mouth girlfriend. She was a boss! George Chakiris as Bernardo was cool but spoke it how he saw it type of leader. Dude was cool with his red shirt that inspired the Michael Jackson “Beat It” song outfit. Chakiris also won the Academy Award for his role.
There are probably some other items I could speak on, but this review hit the main points. Overall, I would say it is a good movie. I still think the Wizard of Oz is the best musical ever, but this is about West Side Story. The choreography was outstanding, even if it reminded me of a music video. Some of the songs and acting were okay. Some stood out more than others. The story was just a modern version of a Shakespeare play. Is the movie enjoyable? Yea. Would I watch it over and over again? Naw, I’m good.
