2021 has proven the best year for musicals in my memory and –unfortunately- West Side Story may well be the very best one of the lot. I say “unfortunately” because while I loved this film, I found it eerily similar to one that already exists. While Steven Spielberg did nothing the screw up the legacy of the Best Picture from 1961, he also didn’t add much to it. Between then and now, you’ll find far more conversation about the Jets and the Sharks with regards to the NHL than on the big screen.
Spielberg didn’t even change the era. We’re still in 1957 NYC, and the sound stage set up to resemble Manhattan still looks like a place where street gangs might control neighborhoods – well, not these street gangs, per se … but just WAIT until Spielberg remakes The Warriors.
Which is all not to say the remake isn’t lovely. Quite the contrary; the music will still give you a thrill; the romance might still make you blush or weep or both. And it is also not to say this remake isn’t relevant; it’s VERY relevant. Scapegoating, xenophobia and tribalism, three things that should have died decades ago, have all made impressive, if completely disgusting, comebacks. Now more than ever, our art has to comment upon the poisons in our society – and the racism highlighted by the film is as important a topic as any.
Just in case you don’t know the story, you ought to. This is a musical retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in “modern” New York City. Instead of Montagues and Capulets, we have street gangs, the Jets (an all–white collection) and the Sharks, which consists entirely of transplanted Puerto Ricans. Former Jet muscle Tony (Ansel Elgort) reluctantly attends a public dance and falls for Maria (Rachel Zegler), the sister of the Sharks’ head fin. The rest follows similar romantic and tragic lines as the original material.
And all of it is set to music, wonderful music. There is really something about a beautiful soundtrack that makes every romance plausible and meaningful. And while Tony is singing about how he just met a girl named Maria, the rumblers sing and dance their way into conflict. Eventually (and just as in Romeo and Juliet) something has got to give.
It’s important to 
remember West Side Story won Best Picture six decades ago because I ask you in all honesty – what is the point of remaking a Best Picture? I can think of a reason or two, but I consistently come back to the question of what was lacking or faulty about the original that needed correction and/or updating? The people at the time already gave it the greatest honor they could give it. Were they wrong? And if they were, how the heck can you improve it?
So what did Spielberg improve? I liked the cinematography better than the original. There are some lovely shots that- from time to time- don’t actually resemble a sound stage. I liked the dancing better, too. Although this vision still has a feel of: “if you met these guys IRL, would you really take either of these gangs seriously?” Let’s face it, if you audition for dancers, you’re gonna get dancers, not fighters. I also liked the balance of this picture better; I have long felt that the original dies after the big fight, coasting its melancholic slope all the way down to the finish line. Spielberg made the same film, but somehow let action remain even past the obvious denouement of fun.
Necessary or no, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is a wonderful film. Every American should having a working knowledge of either this or the original. I don’t care which. I could easily see the film being promoted and even winning best Picture again, although that seems both redundant and wasteful. Don’t, however, let that detract from your enjoyment of this film.
♪The New Yorker
You ugly critique
MagRag of Richard the Brody
Always the pretension showing
Always the ass-wind you’re blowing
And craptastic promoting
And the locals you’re doting
And reality defying
I like reviews on the FrogBlog
Get in that site and go whole hog!
I like to read me the SteelFrogBlog
Ok by me in the SteelFrog Blog
Integrity in the SteelFrogBlog
Get panned for free in SteelFrogBlog♫
Rated PG-13, 156 Minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Tony Kushner
Genre: Unnecessary remakes
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of musicals
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: MAGA
♪ Parody Inspired by “America”
