ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611050118
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
It would be wrong to call Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo and Juliet" a complete failure. One minute, it's laughable. The next minute, it's laudable.
It even has moments of great wit - as when Father Laurence (Pete Postlethwaite) says he will send Romeo word of Juliet's faked death "post haste" - and it's "Post-Haste," an overnight courier service a la Fed Ex that goes speeding off into the desert to bring Romeo the good father's important missive.
But Luhrmann, who made the goofy, likable "Strictly Ballroom," seems to have decided that in order for this modern rendering of "Romeo and Juliet" to work, it needed to avoid taking itself too seriously.
So just as it is finding its feet - and the contemporary clothing and settings not only cease to be distracting, but actually begin to add impact to certain characters and certain lines - Luhrmann throws in a moment of absurdity or outright slapstick and brings down his own risky effort.
He plays himself the fool.
And it's too bad. Because this movie has a lot going for it.
First, it looks good. Set in "Verona Beach," a sort of pre-apocalyptic Venice Beach (is that redundant?), Romeo and his buddies meet in the shadows of ancient, crumbling structures festooned with neon. Hookers stroll the boardwalk as the Montague gang practices its gunslinging with sleek, semiautomatic weapons. In the background, Lurhmann offers a glimpse of the Globe Theatre, a favorite Montague hangout for pool shooting and beer drinking. Weapons must be checked at the door with the Apothecary (M. Emmett Walsh).
And most of the cast actually does manage to make sense of the language. There are notable failures, but with heavyweights like Paul Sorvino as the thuggish head of the house of Capulet, Postlethwaite as the friar, and Diane Venora as a dissipated Lady Capulet, most scenes have enough ballast. As for Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the lovers, she is better than he - but he is far from bad and has what appears to be a natural reservoir of romantic anguish.
It was by no means a bad idea to set the Montagues and Capulets against each other like modern gangs. The notion ought to give the story added relevance, especially with younger audiences, the movie's obvious target group.
But it's hard to imagine that same target group getting in synch with the Elizabethan language - and somehow not falling out of their seats laughing at the "sirs" and "thees" when the gunslinging begins and the bodies fly in all-too-familiar ways.
Maybe Lurhmann should have updated the language, too - but that would have been too easy and cost the movie some of its admirable oddness. Ultimately, that is its greatest strength - its risk-taking. Even if it does end up flat on its face.
Romeo and Juliet **1/2
A 20th Century Fox release showing at Valley View Mall 6 and Salem Valley 8. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13 for violence and sexual situations.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Claire Danes plays Juliet. color.by CNB