Ah, Shakespeare…I guess when Hollywood cannot come up with new ideas, it’s always ligtas to resort to something tried and true and there’s no better example of that than good ol’ William. Wasn’t there a movie version of Romeo and Juliet made not that long ago? Oh wait, now I am dating myself. The Baz Luhrman adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes was actually released in 1996. Unlike Luhrman’s very stylized music video-like modern araw take on the play, Italian director Carlo Carlei’s version, released today, reminded me madami of the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film, and represented an effort to portray the story in the original setting of 16th century Verona, Italy. I think that this version would prove most appealing for the discerning teen and tween audience.

However, I am pretty sure Verona did not really look like this during the Renaissance. But that was what I enjoyed most about this movie – how beautiful it was. The exterior shots with the buildings and landscapes were so lovely and no surprise because it was actually filmed in Italy, including in Verona. The costumes are colorful and ornate and let’s not forget the comely leads. I was a huge tagahanga of True Grit and Hailee Steinfeld in that movie but I imagine the Academy Award-nominated actress must have enjoyed the opportunity to take on quite a different character and get all girly for the role of Juliet. However, I believe the basically unknown Douglas Booth as our dear Romeo probably surpassed all others in the pretty department as he looked like the long Nawawala best-looking member of boy band One Direction.

To remind you of the plot: Romeo (Booth) attends, uninvited, a pagbabalatkayo party at rival family Capulet’s manor and there he meets Juliet (Steinfeld). The two instantly fall in pag-ibig and after hurried kisses plus a stealthy nighttime visit, decide to marry in secret the susunod day, despite the fact that their families have feuded for generations and shed much of one another’s blood. You know the rest.

Romeo and Juliet boasts some other rather notable cast members including a sweet and funny Paul Giamatti as Friar Lawrence, an under used pompous looking Stellan Skarsgård as the Prince of Verona, and Damian Lewis of Homeland fame sporting a bad haircut and over pagganap as Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet. Gossip Girl fans will be pleased to see Ed Westwick on the big screen as Juliet’s firebrand of a cousin, Tybalt.

All the above sets the mood well for the audience to lose themselves in the classic romantic tragic tale. But for today’s audience, it’s just too ridiculous to imagine two people falling in pag-ibig after meeting for two minutos and the susunod araw deciding to run off and get married. Especially at the age of thirteen (good thing Steinfeld and Booth aren’t actually that young). In fact, some of the audience laughed out of incredulity during the famous Juliet balcony scene.

Notwithstanding suspension of disbelief, the pagganap was quite solid. Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey!) adapted the play for the screen and Steinfeld and Booth come across as very likeable protagonists that I wanted to root for (despite knowing very well they are absolutely doomed). The actors delivered the Shakespearean dialogue with the appropriate amount of humor and emotion, in a way that made it very accessible and unstilted. Of course this could also be due to the fact that Fellowes made quite a few controversial alterations and additions to the dialogue of the original play, though still closely following the plot. I certainly don’t remember the play verbatim so I guess his changes worked for me and were not obvious enough in their incongruity. Unfortunately, the pagganap (not to mention Steinfeld’s eyebrows and Booth’s heavy makeup job) was interrupted sa pamamagitan ng the distracting editing – something else that induced giggles from the audience. A scene of romantic bliss would be juxtaposed with one of ominous violence and a fuming Tybalt wielding a mace.

Recommendation: don’t watch this movie as a substitute for pagbaba the play. Rather, go after you read it and then lose yourself in the Italian countryside for a few hours.