Review of West Side Story (1961) by Hatem A — 15 Jul 2011

3.5/4.0.

There is no doubt that "West Side Story" is one of the best and most important movie musicals in film history - its song and dance numbers are perfectly choreographed and staged (the directorial combination) and are sure to woo in viewers even today. But I personally would not call it one of the best movies ever made - it is not a movie without flaw.

The movie is a modern day (summer of 1957 that is) retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in New York City. There is mounting tension and hatred between white American gang "The Jets" and Puerto Rican immigrants "The Sharks". After meeting at the dance, Maria (Natalie Wood), the sister of Sharks leader Fernando (George Chakiris), and Tony (Richard Beymer), best friend of Jets leader Riff (Russ Tamblyn) who has escaped the feuds and works at a local drug store, fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately the relationship at the center of the movie is simply dull and lacks the necessary oomph. We do not get the feeling that these two are in fact deeply in love and the chemistry is nearly not there. Wood is good and charming on her own but I had difficulty liking Beymer's too hopeless romantic performance. For song numbers, Tony's voice is dubbed by Jimmy Bryant and Maria's by Marni Nixon (although I believe it would have been more effective if she did not have a soprano voice while all others sing normally).

But that flaw is made up by a lot of things: (1) as mentioned earlier the musical element of the movie thanks to the directorial collaborative effort of Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins who had helmed the 1957 Broadway musical (interesting note is that Robbins was fired early on by the studio due to budget issues and was in constant clash with Wise but still got credit due to Wise's insistence - many of Robbins' assistants stayed on to handle the remaining dance numbers); (2) the supporting cast and plotlines are extremely interesting especially Rita Moreno as Anita, Fernando's girlfriend who razzles us in song and dance number "America" (actually, all the scenes that do not solely involve Tony and Maria are quite engaging); (3) the Manhattan setting; (4) the transformation of the Shakespeare classic love story into this alternate setting and the alterations to the tale (including an effective conclusion); and (5) a classic score (not just the collaboration of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim on the numbers off by the Broadway show but the original compositions for the movie). Winner of 10 Oscars: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Chakiris), Supporting Actress (Moreno), Art Direction/Set Decoration, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Original Score, Sound. Nominated for 1 Other: Adapted Screenplay.