By Phil Curtolo
Leonardo DeCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Claire Danes (TV's My So Called Life) star in director Baz Luhrmann's modernized version of William Shakespeare's classic, Romeo & Juliet. Surrounded by a superb supporting cast, in-cluding Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Brian Dennehy (Tommy Boy), Pete Poslethwaite (The Usual Sus-pects) and John Leguizamo (Executive Decision), DeCaprio and Danes shine throughout the film.
The story starts off at a gas station, where the "Montague Boys" meet the "Capulet Boys" and square off with one another. Symbolizing the swords of Shakespeare's day were their weapons, like the "Rapier-9mm" or the "Longsword- Shotgun." Instead of killing each other right away, they shoot around, just like in sword fights of old.
Another great thing about the film was the performance of Harold Perrineau as Romeo's best friend. Mercutio, who in Shakespeare's novel was quite a stud, was portrayed as an Afri-can-American cross-dresser whose violent na-ture, was a definite plus. Miriam Margoyles, a virtually unknown actress was astounding as Juliet's nurse, even though she was never given a name. She was the only one who could keep Juliet out of her fantasy world.
Verona was the home of the rival families in Shakespeare's version, only slightly changed in Luhrmann's. Now known as Verona Beach, the Capulet's (led by Sorvino) and Montague's (led by Dennehy) are now rival corporate dynasties. And their small family skirmishes were now huge gang wars.
One slight problem with the film was the difficulty to comprehend the dialogue, since it was spoken in old English. Sub-titles could have helped in the beginning of the movie, but toward the end, it became easier to understand.
This excellent movie poses another prob-lem: what genre is it? Romeo & Juliet contains so much drama, yet enough comedy and action to be placed in either of those categories.
With the same award-winning formula that was used by Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Romeo & Juliet is a sure fire modern masterpiece. Grade: A-, **** out of *****
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