When it was announced that Steven Spielberg would be helming a new adaptation of West Side Story, I was naturally skeptical. To me, there are a few films that I consider so iconic that they should just be left alone. West Side Story was in that boat. But the reality is, stage performances do this all the time where revival shows and road shows recast everyone and bring the same stories to light again and again for new generations. Films do that, too, but get more critical reactions whenever that does happen. There really is no difference other than with film; the original cast can be seen by the younger generation; not so much with live performance. So while I was skeptical, I was eager to see what Spielberg brought to the screen.
Spielberg had been wanting to make a musical for a long time. But, unlike many of the modern-day musicals, he wanted to make a good old-fashioned musical, one that was about love and tragedy. It took a long time for him to settle on West Side Story, a Broadway play that had been made into one of the greatest movie musicals of all time. That pedigree had to be intimidating, and he would have had to know that people would damn this film sight unseen just because it was a remake of such a highly regarded film.
When I reviewed the original film a year ago, I gave it four stars. I stand by that review even though I can see that it has some weaknesses. The main one would be an over-reliance on non-Latinos playing Puerto Ricans; the primary exception being Rita Moreno, who won the Academy Award for portraying Anita. But as good as Natalie Wood is as María, there is no getting around the fact that she is a white woman, not a woman of color. Spielberg wanted to rectify this, and for the most part, he has. While most of the principal Puerto Rican characters are from that racial background, some, including newcomer Rachel Zegler, are not. Zegler is Colombian by ancestry. It’s not quite the same as a white actress, but it’s still not a Puerto Rican María.
Spielberg also wanted to make his adaptation more closely attuned to the original stage play, something the 1961 film strayed away from a bit. Even so, there are a few significant changes his adaptation made to modernize the story, including swapping out the tomboy character for a transgendered one instead. The racial tension that is the crux of the drama is even more prevalent, a sign of the times in which it was made. Racial divides are even more topical today than they were in the 1960s, making a story like this still relevant to modern times. It’s sad and disappointing that this is the case, but racism has only gotten more heated in the modern age, and a story like this serves to show just how stupid racism is.
At its core, though, West Side Story is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, with the Jets and the Sharks the stand-ins for the Capulets and the Montagues. The Jets, the young white men led by “Riff” (Mike Faist), and the Sharks, the Puerto Ricans led by Bernardo (David Alvarez), are fighting over the perceived overrunning of white neighborhoods by the influx of Puerto Rican immigrants. This has led to an uptick in violence between the two groups. Former Jet, Tony (Ansel Elgort), has taken work as a stockboy for Valentina (Rita Moreno), a Puerto Rican who married a white man but is now a widow. Tony recently got out of prison after assaulting someone, almost killing him, and is trying to distance himself from the violence of his past. Riff shows up and invites him to a dance attended by both the Jets and the Sharks, wishing to include Tony in on plans for a rumble between the two groups. Tony initially declines but eventually attends.
At the dance, he meets María, a Puerto Rican girl and sister to Bernardo. The two are instantly smitten with each other, but when Bernardo sees them together, he is enraged and further determined to participate in the rumble. Tony and Maria meet later in private, but are secretly afraid that their love will incite further violence. All of this leads to a showdown between Bernardo and Riff, with Tony trying in vain to stop the fighting. Knowing the basis of this story is Romeo and Juliet, we know that this will not end happily.
Why remake West Side Story? As an adult, I appreciate the 1961 film a lot more than I did when I was in high school. My music teacher had us watch it over the course of several days in school and at that time, my classmates and I were immature and disinterested in that film, laughing at the so-called street gang dancing in the streets like they were on an episode of Fame. This film didn’t speak to me at the time. I have since matured and reevaluated this movie and can see beyond the silliness of the choreography into what that choreography is actually trying to say. That initial viewing is now nearly forty years in the past, and the youth of today are even more disinterested in a film from the early 1960s.
But the themes are still relevant. So it is important to make something that the youth of today are more likely to see and learn from. What is surprising, though, is that even though some elements of the script are updated for modern sensibilities, the music and dance numbers are still squarely in the 1960s. Had I seen this remake back in high school, I would still be snickering at the balletic moves of the street gangs and the pure cheese of some of the songs, especially the number Cool, which was repurposed as an attempt by Tony to keep Riff from bringing a gun to the rumble. Its use in this film feels out of place and silly.
That being said, there are some tremendous musical numbers that break out of that mode and are done better here than in the original. When Bernardo and his girlfriend Anita (Ariana DeBose) turn the streets of Manhattan into their own Broadway stage, singing America, it has an energy that rivals the original and opens it up more than what was done before. David Alvarez sells his disdain for America and his desire to return home to Puerto Rico more than George Chakiris did in 1961. This number incorporates much more the citizens of Manhattan and is a real showstopper. Likewise, when Zegler is singing I Feel Pretty, it is moving, especially knowing that she is soon to have that elated emotion dashed to pieces with the worst news in the world.
The real surprise, though, is breakout actress Rachel Zegler, who beat out over 30,000 other actresses for the part. Her performance is daring and vulnerable, and her singing voice is amazing. This is a girl with a divided allegiance, being told to find one of her own kind to love. She is the only one around her who is seeing past the race barrier and is being beaten down by her brother and his girlfriend over it.
Ansel Elgort isn’t up to the same level as her, though. Ansel had much more experience in films than Rachel did at this time, but he is falling a bit flat. He has the dance moves, thanks to his formal training, but when he is singing out songs like María, he is trying too hard to emote, and it is a bit distracting. It isn’t ruinous, but he needed to scale it back a little to smooth out the rough edges of his performance.
Modern-day production has allowed this film to really open up compared to how things were in the 60s. This no longer feels like something shot on a soundstage. Instead, we get some really good shots that emphasize how downtrodden the neighborhoods have gotten and what things look like to both sides. Moments like one of the Jets removing a wooden sign from a Puerto Rican shop to expose the Irish (immigrants themselves) sign from underneath show the changes going on in the area. There are also abandoned workplaces, torn-down buildings, and graffiti everywhere. The production values are first-rate here and better sell the clashing of cultures.
With all that production comes a hefty price tag, though. That is what ultimately sunk this film. With a budget of $100 million and even more in advertising and rentals, this film needed $300 million to break even. It might have hit that had it been released in a normal year. Unfortunately, it was released in the fall of 2021, right in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Few theaters were still open, and the ones that were were limiting capacity. That, and people still being afraid to be out in close proximity to the public in general, meant that this film didn’t even make its production budget back, let alone turn a profit. It was considered a major bomb for the studio. Not even a post-Oscar nomination boost helped it much.
Since then, it has been reevaluated and considered to be one of the best movie musicals of the 21st century. It has found an audience on streaming and has its fans. Still, most audiences have avoided it because of a form of loyalty to the original film. To be honest, while I really like this remake, and there are amazing things about it, it doesn’t quite justify its existence. The original is still there, and the message is perfectly clear in that film. But if a film being dated is a stumbling block for you, then this remake may be for you instead. Both films are equally good in their own ways. This is not the kind of remake that reinvents the wheel; in that way, it is playing things safe. But safe isn’t always bad. And what changes it does make work for the updated audience. This is another great film by a director who has proven he can do just about anything. It’s just a shame it failed to really find an audience in theaters.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger
Best Director: Steven Spielberg
Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose (won)
Best Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński
Best Costume Design: Paul Tazewell
Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo
Best Sound: Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, and Shawn Murphy
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Release Date: December 10, 2021
Running Time: 156 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Brian D’Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Rita Moreno, and Rachel Zegler
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
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