Love at first sight strikes young Tony (Ansel Elgort) as he spots Maria (Rachel Zegler) at a high school dance in 1957 New York City. Their burgeoning romance helps to fuel the fire between the warring Jets and Sharks--two rival gangs vying for control of the streets. It turns out that Tony is, or at least was, the leader of the Jets, and Maria, who is the sister of the leader of the Sharks, Bernardo (David Alvarez) end up in the middle of this difference of ethnicity--the Jets are white while the Sharks are Puerto Ricans.
Others to round out the cast are Ariana DeBose as Anita, Rita Moreno as Valentina, Brian d'Arcy James as Officer Krupke, Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank, Mike Faist as Riff, Josh Andres Rivera as Chino, Iris Menas as Anybodys, David Aviles Morales as Anibal and Sebastian Serra as Braulio.
This was crafted brilliantly by veteran director Steven Spielberg ("Duel" (TV movie) '71, "The Sugarland Express" '74, "Jaws" '75, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" '77, "1941" '79, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" '81, "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" '82, "The Color of Purple" '85, "Empire of the Sun" '87, "Hook" '91, "Jurassic Park" '93, "Schindler's List" '93, "Saving Private Ryan" '98, "Minority Report" '02, "The Terminal" '04, "Munich" '05, "The Adventures of Tintin" '11, "War Horse" '11, "Lincoln" '12, "The BFG" '16, "Ready Player One" '18) plus many others, TV, shorts and a video game. Spielberg just simply has the ability to be able to extract that specific emotion from his actors that astounds. He knows people and what it takes to grow into character. If this director's style in intriguing, his "The Fabelmans" is in post production for a 2022 release. It was equally well written by Tony Kushner ("Angels in America: The Opera" (TV movie) '04, "Munich" '05, "Lincoln" '12) plus TV and a video, based on the stage play and book by Arthur Laurents. Ernest Lehman wrote the original "West Side Story", however this was equally well written, if not better. Kushner had the ability of recreating the original where each scene seamlessly melded into the songs so effortlessly. The character development was amazing and crisp. The continuity, cohesiveness and conciseness was absolutely spot on. All the actors were an amazing ensemble, but Mark Faist as Riff simply shined. He was every bit as talented as his counterpart as Riff in Russ Tamblin's role in the 1961 original. Even Ansel Elgort's Tony was every bit as good as Richard Beymer's Tony in the 1961 original. And the photography by Janusz Daminski and edting by Michael Kahn ace and Sarah Broshar was stunning and definitely enhanced the feel of the film. Typically Spielberg is a filmmaker that has an amazing eye for detail, and it definitely shows here. Any Oscar nods here? Absolutely! Possibly for direction, film and maybe photography.
Whether you are a musical fan, a nostalgia fan or a Spielberg fan, this film will please on all counts. It was an amazing remake of an incredible original. I certainly felt that if anyone could recreate such an already amazing film, Spielberg could, and he did in spades. It was wonderful to see Rita Moreno in this since she was in the original. And certainly Leonard Bernstein recreating his score from the original was consummate. And what a tribute to Stephen Sondheim who created the lyrics, since he passed recently.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 156mins.
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