mikeh-54044 See the excellent review by Filipi Neti. Theater and media are, indeed, very different media. Stories are shaped, to a large large degree by the vehicle used. Had Will Shakespeare had access to movies, who knows what we would have??.

Dave McClain Many films, not all alike in quality, In fair cinema, where we lay our scene, From ancient story to new screen idolatry, Where repetition makes some critics mean.Shakespeare's tragic young lovers on screen oft before, for each generation and all others, in '36, '68, '96 and more.This time Hailee Steinfeld plays Juliet, With Douglas Booth, her devoted Romeo, She, an Oscar nominee for the film "True Grit". And for a handsomer man, you'd have far to go.The cast includes Natasha McElhone, The long-suffering muse on "Californication", And Damian Lewis, who starred on "Homeland", As a Congressman and a threat to our great nation.Ed Westwick as hotheaded Tybalt is perfectly cast, having played the scheming Chuck on TV's "Gossip Girl". The rest of the actors, from the first to the last, All well-cast in their roles, from countries around the world.The language they all speak is truly Shakespeare's own, With some speeches omitted or just changed. The words in the script, to Americans not unknown If you miss a few, the acting keeps you engaged.I'd be remiss in this review if I failed to mention This retelling of the story is not without invention. The settings and scenery, share a common beauty And with innocence and fragility, Juliet's a cutie.To conclude, I move on to other plays from which I dare to paraphrase. I hope to close this review on a helpful note, And maybe even give you something to quote.When deciding on a film for popcorn ingestion, To see or not to see, that is the question. You could just choose to get thee to a nunnery, But that wouldn't be nearly as much… funnery.Okay, I'm out. Let's see YOU find rhymes for question and nunnery. (Not to mention Stellan Skarsgård and Paul Giamatti, who are great as the Prince of Verona and Friar Laurence, respectively.) The earlier versions of this story are mostly very good, each in its own way, and this one definitely holds its own. If you enjoy love stories with drama, see 2013's "Romeo & Juliet". "B+"

gulsumozturk I didn't like the movie because i couldn't see any chemistry between Steinfeld and Booth. I think the Leading actors and actresses should have been chosen more carefully, since they are the ones who draw viewers' attentions for any movies. In this movie, there is no chemistry between them at all. Since this legendary story of Sheakespeare requires a lot of passion, i looked for it in the movie. For me, it was totally disappointing. Although the movie doesn't follow the original text, it can only be watched for Sheakespeare's beautiful quotes. However, the one with Leonardo Dicaprio was much better than all "Romeo and Juliet" movies.

a-curtin4 Romeo and Juliet is a classic love story which every age genre has seen or heard about. Such a love story has charmed the hearts of the nation for countless years. As you can imagine, the world was ecstatic to learn that a new rendition of Romeo and Juliet would be released shortly, as was I. However, shock gradually took over as I watched this new rendition of this unbeatable love story by William Shakespeare. Nothing felt right or natural about this new adaptation. Firstly, the most important scene of the whole entire movie, being the balcony scene was more or less dismissed or thrown under the rug. This scene just blended into the rest of the movie. The dialogue portrayed by Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth was mumbled and was almost as if it was too rehearsed. There was no sense of it being natural at all. The concentration to portray Shakespeare words took over and ending up being a total disaster and a great disappointment. As the film carried on to the secret marriage scene, there was a glimpse of hope that Fellowes take on this movie would justify Shakespeare work. Once again, I was terribly disappointed. As Juliet's nanny arranges for her to be wed, we see more terrible dialogue between Romeo and Juliet, perhaps it's a blessing that most of the dialogue in this movie is cover up by all the making out in the movie. Even though the actors kiss and are affectionate towards each other there is no intimate scene in this depiction of the play. This is another aspect of Shakespeare writing which was cut by Julian Fellowes.Another element of this rendition is the beauty of the actors. Romeo should never be more beautiful than Juliet. This is seen throughout this movie and Douglas Booth takes over. Personally, I feel the film was a shambles. There is an ultimate drop of this film in comparison to the 1966 rendition of Romeo and Juliet. The only points which I feel Fellows portrayed correctly was the age of the actors. Both Romeo and Juliet fit the age of which the audience would expect them to be and also all actors were of the correct sex, Males played males and females played females. Unlike Shakespeare times where all the roles in the play were of mixed sex. Although the dialogue was mumbled and almost unclear, Shakespeare language is prevalent throughout this play. The correct language is used an is almost untouched. This aspect is one of very few which resembles the true Romeo and Juliet.As Julian Fellowes is renowned for his ability to write with such a success of Downton Abbey, his rendition of Romeo an Juliet was very disappointing and unsatisfying.