Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Tony Kushner
Based on West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins
Starring Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, Ansel Elgort
Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, strong language, thematic content, suggestive material and brief smoking
Runtime: 2 hours 36 minutes 
In theaters December 10

by Ryan Silberstein and Audrey Callerstrom, Editors

Ryan: In order for me to talk about West Side Story, I have to talk about Mr. Chudoff. My fifth grade teacher in Northeast Philadelphia, Mr. Chudoff, believed that children should be educated about the world in addition to the usual stuff that 10 year olds are supposed to learn. In Mr. Chudoff’s class, I absorbed all kinds of miscellany, from Howdy Doody, to the ending of Shane. One of these was showing us the original 1961 West Side Story. I don’t remember what prompted it, and while I never went back to that film, nor did I ever really become a “theater kid,” I can still recall certain scenes and songs from somewhere deep in my memory banks, despite having forgotten the names of my teachers from first through third grades at this point. So, for anyone who wonders why a Millennial has a passing knowledge of everything from Jim Thorpe to Burma Shave, Mr. Chudoff is to blame, or thank.

I should also mention that I am a Spielberg apologist as well. I’ve seen his entire feature filmography, and in my estimation he’s only made three bad movies so far (1941, Always, and The Terminal). West Side Story fits the mold of his last few ‘serious’ movies, all of which take place in the past. Spielberg has talked about wanting to make a musical for a long time, though re-adapting a Best Picture winner seemed like an odd choice, at least until the “For Dad” dedication comes up during the credits.

With that personal context addressed, I must admit that I fervently enjoyed watching Spielberg’s West Side Story. The biggest issues with Hollywood musicals in the past few decades are twofold: one, casting stars who don’t have a song-and-dance background, and two, cutting the musical numbers to incomprehensible garbage in the edit. Thankfully, Spielberg avoids both. 

While Ansel Elgort remains a slate so blank he almost ceases to exist, the rest of the cast is engaging and dazzling to watch. Rachel Zegler is a fantastic Maria, and does well showing both sides of the archetypal character. Mike Faist’s Riff makes that character more engaging and relatable than he might be otherwise, giving his Mercutio stand-in a sense of vibrancy and warmth that could be lacking otherwise, supplying a wiry energy that makes the character’s longing feel dangerous. 

Audrey, my understanding is that this is your first time with West Side Story. What stood out to you?

Audrey: The lasting impression I think this West Side Story adaptation will have is how “Old Hollywood” it feels. The takes are long, the film is colorful, and a majority of the scenes, I assume, are filmed in a studio. You don’t just see these long takes anymore, or moments of silence where two characters stand in a room. These moments have room to breathe.

I would liken a miscast Ansel Elgort to the kid on a group project who didn’t do any of the work, but all the other kids on the group project worked really hard. Ultimately it doesn’t matter. He does come across very blank, and he doesn’t have the giddy enthusiasm of someone in love. Zegler does, so she can carry scenes where Elgort might be lacking. Let’s not forget, too, that Elgort is a trained dancer. So while the emotions might not come through, the movements do. Oh, and the movements! This film has great choreo.

Last spring I saw In the Heights, and it was the first film I’d seen in a theater in over a year. I didn’t know what to expect, and as it started, I was just so happy to be in that place. I could devote my attention to a film without a three-year-old pleading to watch Scooby-Doo. I was with people. Real live people! Not on Zoom! And… I didn’t like it. It was flat and bland. The songs were atonal and dumb. If I’m being completely honest, the only thing I liked about In the Heights is that Jimmy Smits shows up and he is an absolute smoke show. Maybe I just don’t really like musicals, I wondered (unlike Ryan, I am a theater kid through and through, although I can’t sing).

West Side Story is so, so, so much better. The scenes breathe, the instrumentals are loud and booming. It feels like you’re near an orchestra pit. The casting here is careful and precise. This is the director who was like “Daniel Day Lewis should be Abe Lincoln” and we saw it and we were like we were like “FUCK THAT’S THE GUY ON THE PENNY AND HE’S ALIVE!” I feel like everyone who has a mom who might like this should take their mom to go see it. Because it feels like a real Hollywood throwback.

I feel like with a musical you have to treat it like a soundtrack. Ryan, what were your favorite songs?

Ryan: I’m going to ignore your In the Heights bashing, but I will say that even though I am not a theater kid, I love musicals, especially at the movies. Musicals are maybe the last remaining kind of movie where realism is not totally prioritized, and the emotions of the characters are more important. But I do agree with you about Speilberg making this feel cinematic. The scene where Tony and Maria meet behind the bleachers, light from the rest of the gymnasium filtering through, is incredible.

So yes, the musical numbers. West Side Story has songs so good that their power unable to be contained by the flat plane of the screen. Even Elgort can’t mess up “Tonight” or “Maria” as bland as he is, performance-wise. When I was younger, “Gee, Officer Krupke,” was my favorite song in the show, the sarcasm, dirty jokes, and pitter patter more appealing to me than the romance of it all. Here, I love the spectacle Spielberg brings to “America” and “I Feel Pretty,” giving them a sense of scale and movement that harkens back to the classic musicals of the 1950s, but free of the technical limitations of those movies. However, “Cool” is probably my pick for favorite song in this whole thing, the jazziness and homoerotic overtones make it feel especially distinct to me, and Mike Faist is just electric as Riff. 

The other thing I wanted to note is that as I’ve gotten older, I see Romeo and Juliet stories differently. When I was a teen, I thought the idea of their romance was ridiculous in any version. But now I understand something I feel most people get instinctively. The romance isn’t meant to be realistic (these kids get married after knowing each other for like a day and a half?) but capture the intensity of feeling the idea of that love and what it represents to the characters. 

And one last thing: do you think this will appeal to younger generations? Even at 35, enjoying this so thoroughly made me feel old. Maybe In the Heights is trying a bit too hard to update this kind of story, but this feels like a throwback in so many ways. I wonder if this will land with anyone who doesn’t already love older movies.

Audrey: I could see someone being antsy with the long takes and the pacing, but also I don’t think this figurative person I’ve constructed in my brain really even likes movies that much. There are some nice touches here, like how Anita (Ariana DeBose) dyes fabric and hangs them in her apartment so that the characters can walk between sheer bursts of color, like reds and blues (the signature colors of the Sharks and the Jets, respectively). We also have an LGBT character, but Spielberg doesn’t try to make a grand statement about it in a way that feels out of place. Another thing that I felt during West Side Story is that the film is so colorful and vast and the sound is so great that I would recommend people to see it in a theater. If that’s out of your scope of comfort, fine, but I will say that sitting in a seat, silently, in a mask, with a water bottle and a snack is not only safe but extremely enjoyable.