Verona in what would soon become Italy, 1301: Two rich families, the Capulets and the Montagues fight over reign of the city in a conflict that's already generations old. Young Romeo (Jamie Ward), only son of the Montagues, thinks little of the feud though and feels rather uncomfortable about his role as crown prince of the family. Then, at a fair, he meets Juliet (Clara Rugaard), and the two immediately fall in love - and he only later finds out she's the offspring of Lord (Rupert Everett) and Lady Capulet (Rebel Wilson). This doesn't change his feelings for her one bit, but it makes their romance a bit harder, and only with the help of the local cleric Friar Lawrence (Derek Jacobi) do the manage to keep things secret, as he sees in them a concrete hope for peace in Verona. But then, at a masque at Capulet castle that Romeo also attends, it's announced that Juliet is to marry Paris (Dennis Andres), who might be a mighty allie in her family's feud with the Montagues, an announcement that hits her as unexpectedly as it does Romeo. However, Romeo loses his cool at the masque and is found out, and upon his escape, several men on both sides lose their lives - and suddenly Romeo finds himself a refugee. Hoever, Friar Lawrence in league with the local apothecary (Dan Fogler) makes up a scheme for the young lovers to escape the city with one another. Only catch is, this scheme involves some poison that one might not wake up from ...

Now this is obviously not the first film adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and whether it's the best one is left to everybody's individual tastes of course.  What sets this version apart from most others is that it doesn't follow the bard's letters to the t but makes up its own dialogue that's very 21st century, spoken in American accents - which are as out of place in 14th century Verona as Shakespearean English would have been when you thing about it - and it has several very poppy song and dance numbers, Now some might deem this as blasphemy, but then again, what's the use of adapting an oft-filmed and well-known play yet again without making some changes. And the singing's actually pretty good in this one, and the tunes are catchy. And in all, this is a well-acted version of the story that's also easy on the eye and moves along swiftly, with only the forced happy ending feeling a tad out of place, so if you can forgive the rather modernist take on the source material, you'll likely be well entertained.

Juliet & Romeo will be in UK cinemas for one night only on 11th June.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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