381. West Side Story (1961)

Running Time: 151 minutes
Directed By: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Written By: Jerome Robbins, Ernest Lehman, from play by Arthur Laurents
Main Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
Click here to view the trailer

WISE WEEK: PART 1

Note: I wanted to watch the four films that will comprise "Wise Week" in chronological order, as I normally do for most of my dedication to director weeks. However, I accidentally moved "The Haunting" to the top of my Netflix queue and wasn't expecting another Netflix delivery until Wednesday. Since I wanted to get the ball rolling tonight, I've decided to go in random order.

Tonight was the second time in my life that I've seen "West Side Story". The first time I saw it, I was a grade school boy watching it in music appreciation class and I remember loving it. Tonight, I wasn't quite as enthralled.

The film is set in New York and centers around two rival gangs, on the streets of Manhattan. You've got the Jets, headed up by their leader Riff (Tamblyn) and the Puerto Rican Sharks and their main man Bernardo (Chakiris). The two gangs can't seem to come to terms on which one of them is the top dog on the streets, so the Jets decide to challenge the Sharks to a rumble. Riff makes plans to take his former partner and Jets co-founder, Tony (Beymer), to neutral territory, in the form of a dance, and formally challenge the Sharks. Tony is hesitant at first, but eventually decides to back up his best buddy. While at the dance, Tony meets Maria (Wood), Bernardo's sister and immediately falls for her. Later, the two gangs finally come to congress at Doc's Candy Shop and Tony convinces them to have a fair fist fight, instead of a rumble involving weapons. The gangs agree and as they prepare to fight, Tony and Maria continue to fall head over heels for one another, professing their love in the form of songs. When the big showdown finally happens, it doesn't take long for the switchblades to get pulled and for certain key characters to meet their fatal demise.

Man, you know I remember watching this movie in school like it was yesterday. I always hated school, but I remember when we were watching "West Side Story" (split up into four of five days) I actually had a reason to look forward to school for that week. It captivated me when I was younger and I loved everything about it, from the music to the plot. Today, like I said, I was less than enthralled and I can't say I was too unhappy when it ended. One big problem that was very obvious to me, was that there were far too many songs! Now, I know this is a musical and you might say, "Well, how can a musical have TOO MANY songs?". but I'll be damned if this thing wasn't jam-packed with songs! There were twelve songs that were actually sung throughout the film, not counting the parts where the orchestra was simply playing and the reprise of "Somewhere". It felt like they no more got finished singing one song, and they were gargling salt water and preparing their voices for a rendition of something else. The plot is extremely thin and is held up by the twelve legs that are the musical numbers. If you were to strip this film of all it's musical acts, it would probably last about 25 minutes and be an intoxicating little short film. And the kicker is this: The music isn't even THAT great. Sure there are a few catchy tunes (like my favorite, "Gee Officer Krupke"), but for the most part the music wasn't something that really appealed to me.

Obviously the plot is a take on Romeo & Juliet and that's kind of cool - before it was cool for movies to adapt things from Shakespeare plays and place them in modern settings. The set design, costume design and cinematography are excellent and the whole production made my eyes pop at least a dozen times, as it's really a spectacle to behold - visually speaking. I thought Richard Beymer was an awful actor and when you find out the little tidbit that he didn't even do his own singing, it's a real head scratcher as to how this guy even landed a part this big. Natalie Wood wasn't that great either and when I think of her performance here and in "Splendor in the Grass", it's my opinion that she wasn't much more than a pretty face. On the other hand, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris and Rita Moreno were all excellent casting choices, especially Tamblyn whom I thought pulled of his character perfectly.

As I've noted many times throughout my journey; my tastes - they are a changin'. "West Side Story" simply doesn't have the power to captivate me anymore, like it did when I was a youngster. No longer can a film dangle it's grandeur in front of me like a carrot. As I've grown older, I've learned to take a closer look and not give my approval out quite as easily. The bottom line on "West Side Story" isn't bad, but it's certainly not as good as it once was.

RATING: 6.5/10 Not bad, but I had high hopes for this one and it really fell short. "Wise Week", however, will continue. Next up: "The Haunting".

MOVIES WATCHED: 361
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 640

December 6, 2011 12:57am