With cinematographer Janusz Kaminski’s camera swooping about in spectacular fashion and the production design by Adam Stockhausen perfectly capturing the 1957 vibe while also carrying an almost dreamlike quality at times, “West Side Story” effortlessly introduces (or should we say re-introduces) the familiar characters, including Zegler’s Maria, who is bursting with energy and life and optimism Ansel Elgort’s Tony, who spent a year in prison after nearly killing a rival in a fight and is trying to be a better man Ariana DeBose’s Anita, a lovely and passionate and independent-minded woman who is Bernardo’s girlfriend and an older-sister figure to Maria, and the seemingly bookish Chino (Josh Andres Rivera), who has been tabbed by Bernardo to be the right kind of suitor for Maria. And yet neither side can get past their fear-based resentment and hostility toward one another. Schrank (Corey Stoll) explains to these sons of the Irish, Italian and Polish and these sons of Puerto Rico, both groups are about to rendered extinct by the wrecking ball in this rapidly transitioning neighborhood, and there’s nothing they can do about it. (We’d also be remiss not mention the classic original music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and the late Stephen Sondheim, respectively.)Īs the casually racist Lt. Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remains faithful to the 1957 Broadway musical source material (which, of course, was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”) and is still firmly rooted in the New York City of the 1950s - but also manages to come across as fresh and timely, thanks to the screenplay by the great Tony Kushner, some key tweaks to certain characters and moments and song placement, and a sensational feature film debut by Rachel Zegler, who delivers a star-making performance and makes Maria her own from the moment we see her on screen.
Rated PG-13 (for some strong violence, strong language, thematic content, suggestive material and brief smoking). 20th Century Studios presents a film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner, adapting the musical by Arthur Laurents.