“They don’t make ‘em like they used to anymore” is one of the boldest lies in all of Hollywood. For one, nobody can ever really agree on how they used to make ‘em. But secondly, people do make ‘em like they used to, all the time. Case in point: Steven Spielberg's (“Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”) first musical, a new film adaptation of the classic Broadway smash hit, “West Side Story” is absolutely made like they used to. Which is to say, with heart, gumption, and bravado that likes of which will make your heart soar.
This is a tale that needs to introduction, but to put it briefly, the film follows rival gangs the Caucasian Jets, lead by Riff, played by Mike Faist (“Panic”), and the Puerto Rican Sharks, lead by Bernardo, played by David Alvarez (“American Rust”), as they clash after former Jets member and leader Tony, played by Ansel Elgort (“The Fault in Our Stars,” “Baby Driver”), and Bernardo’s little sister María, played by Rachel Zegler, fall in love. It's a classic tale, literally as it's based on Romeo and Juliet, and screenwriter Tony Kushner (“Munich,” “Angels in America”) doesn’t do anything too radical to shake things up for modern audiences.
The few changes that do exist are extremely smart and feel at home in the tale and world: for example, the young wannabe Jet who follows Tony around and is most often played by a girl who’s bemoaned because “girls can’t be Jets” is instead a trans male character played by Iris Menas in their film debut. It’s a change that’s subtle, one you’d never notice if you weren’t familiar with the source material, but makes so much sense in the year 2021.
Spielberg and Kusher make no qualms with this material. This isn’t the same sort of film as “Dear Evan Hansen” or Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables. With every sharp note, bright piece of technicolor clothing, or high kicking choreography, “West Side Story” is a musical through and through. There’s no hiding from it, and the energy on display bleeds into every single aspect of the picture. The opening moments of the film go without more than one or two words for as long as possible, and frankly it's electric.
That’s a trick used quite a bit here; moments where a scene will play out with no dialogue for as long as possible, just music and visuals. The dance is one such moment and it becomes an exhilarating experience because of it. Every single moment is filled with such a specific kind of larger than life enthusiasm. There are even moments where, either because of the lighting, color palette, film grain, etc. it feels as though you’re watching the original film, with that very particular 60s technicolor look.
Let’s not beat around the bush though, a musical with characters as beloved and larger than life like this would crumble if not performed well and the cast here is more than up to the task. Ariana DeBose (“The Prom,” “Schmigadoon!”) as Anita is a force of nature, plain and simple, commanding every scene whether sung or spoken. Alvarez is both a leader and also a caring brother, giving nuance to what could’ve easily been a stereotypical gang leader. Faist plays Riff as a wounded feral puppy kind of guy. He seems sweet and well meaning at his core, but as if the violence is the only way he knows how to express himself. Rita Moreno (“West Side Story (1961),” “Oz”) is also here, not reprising her role as María, obviously, but instead as Valentina, a warm and kind presence that helps to provide some perspective to the film’s events. The aforementioned Menas is also a delight, deployed at specific emotional moments as if they’re a surrogate sad-eyed puppy dog who elicits an almost immediate emotional response.
In as simple words as possible: in her film debut, Rachel Zegler is a revelation. While its easy to be cynical or worried about actors plucked right out of high school and shoved into a big leading role like this, clearly Spielberg made the right choice. She has all of María’s heart, her soul, her angst, spark, sadness, love. It’s the kind of role that feels not like an actor was born to play, but rather that they simply are that role. She is an absolute magnificent presence that won’t soon be forgotten in any way.
On the flip side, Elgort is good. He’s made better thanks to the cast around him, but his performance isn’t nearly as revelatory as Zegler’s. It doesn’t help that the character of Tony just has less to work with than María, so while he might be doing the best he can, the material has never been there to make Tony a standout performance. He’s fine, good even, and not remotely poor, just the weakest performance of the bunch.
How to shoot a film adaption of a Broadway musical is one of the most hotly debated topics in cinema. Some believe the best way is to animate it, to keep the high energy and fluidity of the live stage. While that hasn’t happened here, that fluidity is still maintained thanks to Spielberg and legendary cinematographer Janusz Kamiński’s (“Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan”) decision to avoid cuts as much as possible. Not that they aren’t there, this isn’t “Birdman,” but so many moments are heightened thanks to long takes of sweeping, moving camera shots. When Tony tries to convince Riff not to bring the gun to the rumble, a moment where the pair wrestle the gun to the ground and stare each other down could’ve easily been split into multiple shots and yet it's all one unbroken moment. Likewise, so many of the dances maintain their high energy and almost borderline fantasy nature because we see them all being done more or less unbroken. If ever you needed a way to show a lived-in, believable world and characters, this is the way to do it.
It's difficult to describe the kind of energy on display here that makes “West Side Story” such an absolute triumph. For every moment it goes on, it becomes more and more of a time capsule of the original stage production and not a remake of the 1961 film. The choreography is new and as high stepping as ever and, in a great decision, Spielberg has chosen not to subtitle any of the Spanish spoken throughout the film. It doesn’t take away at all from the story or make it harder to follow for those who don’t speak the language. Rather, it further enhances the world and provides even more material to showcase its exceptional cast, as even if you don’t understand it, the intentions and what’s being said is so exceptionally clear thanks to the emotion and acting on display.
Kushner has fleshed out the entire world, delivering a script rich with detail and wonderful dialogue at every turn. It's the rare musical where every line, spoken or sung, is a gem, and everything moves with such a brisk and deliberate pace that before you know it, it’s over, absolutely flying through its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Yet, even with that much material, it's the kind of movie that leaves you wanting more, based purely on its resounding success and high quality.
This is not the Spielberg of the last two decades. Forget about “Ready Player One,” “The BFG,” or “The Post.” This is Spielberg at his most spell-binding and talented, a film more than worthy to go alongside works like “Saving Private Ryan,” “Catch Me If You Can,” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Even beyond the legendary director’s filmography, this new “West Side” is a proud tale: proud of the two heritages of display, proud of its beaming love story at the center, proud of its star-making performances, and most importantly, proud of being a musical. It’s hard to call a film like this, with charm and emotion and color practically pouring out of the silver screen and flooding the theatre, anything other than an absolute and monumental triumph. “They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is a bold faced lie. It's just a matter of matching the art with the artist. And that’s what Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is: art. 5/5
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