Item: West Side Story
Rating: 9
Author: Matt Rooney

PLOT: A new adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical, a young man and woman fall in love despite being on separate sides of a gang rivalry that could tear the community apart.

REVIEW: After several decades of tackling everything from killer sharks to World War II dramas, and biopics about Abraham Lincoln to virtual reality gaming, Steven Spielberg finally got his chance to make a good ol’ fashioned musical. For his first crack, he decided to take on what is perhaps inarguably *the* musical— West Side Story. First living as a Broadway sensation from Jerome Robbins (director) Leonard Bernstein (music), Arthur Laurents (book), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), it burst into full bloom as an Oscar-winning (ten of them, to be exact) adapted movie classic that brought it further into the mainstream. Even a director with the stature of Spielberg could not have faced a more daunting challenge. And yet, in the face of this challenge, with this loving, masterfully crafted, brilliantly acted spectacle for all the senses, he can add one more feather in his cap that solidifies why he is the absolute master of his craft.

While the musical (itself an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”) is over 60 years old and the movie not much younger, Spielberg and writer Tony Kushner (Spielberg’s Munich and Lincoln), had the good sense to change very little about the setting and characters. Set in the 1950s, two street gangs fight for control of territory in the Upper West Side of New York, which is going through a massive overhaul as buildings are being torn down to make way for luxury developments. On one side are the Jets, made up of white men (led by Riff, played by Mike Faist) who feel cast aside by society and families who didn’t want them, and who feel the neighborhood is theirs by right. On the other side are the Sharks, made up of Puerto Rican immigrants (led by Bernardo, played by David Alvarez) trying to make their way in America and protect their community. In the middle of all the rumbling, dance numbers, and finger-snapping are Tony (Ansel Elgort), a former Jet trying to reform himself after almost beating a Shark to death, and Maria (Rachel Zegler), the sister of Bernardo trying to carve out her own path.

Anyone who has seen the musical or watched the movie will feel quite comfortable jumping into the story, and perhaps that may even be a flaw for those hoping for something a little different. But in keeping close to the source material – even if it means feeling a bit beholden to the movie classic – Spielberg and Kushner leave more than enough of their own stamps to give the movie its own voice, all while honoring the tried and true beauty of the original story. For starters, the setting makes more of a home out of New York. Gone are sound stages and in its place is 1950s New York, with sweaty dancers in dirty clothes turning streets and demolished buildings into their own Broadway stage. From a cinematic standpoint, it reminded me a lot of this year’s other great New York-set musical, In the Heights, also turning areas of the city into large playgrounds for the incredible song and dance numbers.

Right off the bat, the first thing I was and everyone else will be entranced by is the immediately enthralling visual language. As if everything he’s done has simply been a test for this assignment, Spielberg – working with the one and only Janusz Kamiński as cinematographer, editors Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar, and a genius production and art department – arranged one meticulously crafted shot and sequence after another. With moments like the snapping energy of the Jets passing paint cans to one another leading to them painting out street art of the Puerto Rican flag in the opening act, or the energy of the crowd in the gymnasium leading up to dance numbers putting them face-to-face during “The Dance at the Gym”, Spielberg seems to know in his bones how to let the rhythm of a scene pick up and crescendo into captivating visual beats that will leave you floored. It feels less like he’s trying to simply put a musical onto the screen or re-create the 1961 movie, and more like he’s using iconic material to craft a unique, transporting energy, knowing precisely when to pinpoint the exact emotion with an arresting visual exclamation.

As to be expected with Kamiński, there is a naturalistic look that rings familiar to, say, his work on Lincoln, but never does that hide away the flow of vibrant colors that can dominate numbers like “Gym” and “America.” But as marvelous as the movie looks during the big numbers, I was most entranced when it came to the small, intimate moments, especially between our central love-struck duo. From the moment they lock eyes amidst the dancing crowd, there’s this perpetual glow around them that’s pronounced against the DP’s trademark use of shadows. Several of their most intimate moments together are uniquely moving thanks to Kamiński finding new ways to play with light, color, and shadows, and how they all emphasize their growing connection as they draw nearer to each other. Pretty much in sync with Kamiński at this point, Spielberg knows just how to frame it all for maximum effect in one captivating scene after another. The crowning jewel is the famous fire escape “Tonight” sequence, which here is a stunning combination of that intricate lighting and staging that’s utterly absorbing.

A technical masterwork, it’s an embarrassment of riches that there are also so many terrific performances. Zegler as Maria is a mesmerizing marvel born for the big screen, with her tremendous voice and performance that will rope you in and shatter your heart sure to entrance audiences and make sure they leave the theaters knowing her name. As well, Ariana DeBose as Anita, Alvarez as Bernardo, Faist as Riff, and the returning Rita Moreno (who played Anita in an Oscar-winning role in the 1961 film) as shop owner Valentina are knockouts. DeBose in particular is sure to break out from this alongside Zegler, with a performance that’s sensual, funny, heartbreaking, and further buoyed with excellent vocal and dance work. For some, she may even steal the whole show. As Tony, Elgort too does good work and shows off his pipes. I wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s a weak link, he admittedly doesn’t have the same shine like the others as a charming, if not terribly compelling, young man trying to move on from his sins. And yet, there’s no true weak note in the bunch, with everyone fully game for the flow of Sondheim’s lyrics, and jaw-dropping dance choreography.

Perhaps the most significant change in the execution of the material is in how Spielberg and Kushner wrote the interactions between members of the Puerto Rican community – primarily in that much of their English dialogue is cut in with Spanish. Audiences will surely notice how there are no subtitles for these scenes, and while that may be sure to cause some dissension, it completely works in the context of the characters. While Anita presses them all to learn to speak in English, their big confrontations with each other move naturally, logically into Spanish. The tone of the scenes makes it so non-Spanish speakers like myself can still understand the emotions behind the words, and ultimately, it was a strong move that really makes these characters feel natural, and their interactions more compelling.

Speaking of having a more natural, grounded feel to everything, it’s in that modern approach where this new West Side Story can feel a little jumbled at times, tonally. For all the social subtext and eventual darkness in the songs and storytelling, there’s no getting around how musical numbers like “Gee, Officer Krupke” and “I Feel Pretty” feel a bit out of place. The latter is a bubbly piece with Maria and her co-workers singing and dancing around a department store, which comes right after one of the most tragic scenes in the movie. The same goes for a sequence involving an assault, which felt a bit too grim. There’s no question as to why certain songs aren’t cut, and while for the characters they always make sense in terms of development, there’s also no denying that they can sometimes feel out of place. It that’s aim to make the movie look and feel more realistic juxtaposed with the sillier, more jubilant songs that can have the most dampening – if only mildly – effect.

In a lot of ways, Spielberg’s West Side Story reminds me of his Lincoln. Both are movies that work within a specific framework and aren’t exactly trying to reinvent any wheels. But the sheer mastery of the craftsmanship on both sides of the screen ensures that even if you feel like you’ve seen this song and dance before, every little anticipated detail is as perfect as possible. The result is a story you know the end of, but the journey is so compelling from top to bottom you don’t even care. This new West Side Story has a lot to stack up to, and for all that may seem familiar, the work that went into it on all levels is so phenomenal it feels brand new and utterly intoxicating from start to finish, proving that after 50 years in the game, Spielberg hasn’t lost an ounce of his ability to dazzle and send you on an emotional rollercoaster.