“West Side Story” (2021) is Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the 1957 musical as opposed to a remake of Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise’s 1961 film, which I saw so long ago that I am incapable of comparing the two films so all comments will relate to this film as if it was created in a vacuum. William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” inspired the musical except it is set in blue-collar Manhattan. Two gangs, the Jets, descendants of European immigrants, and the Sharks, more recent Puerto Rican migrants, fight for control over the Upper West Side as both sides face the prospect of being displaced. Maria (Rachel Zegler), the sister of the Sharks’ head, Bernardo (David Alvarez), falls for Tony (Ansel Elgort), the former Jets’ head, at a social experiment dance to create a peace between the warring factions, but only acts as a catalyst to open war.
With a run time of two hours thirty-six minutes, only three minutes longer than the original, “West Side Story” is a daunting trip to the theater with omicron making mask wearing a necessity. I only saw the movie as a cover story to walk and come back with tubs of real butter popcorn. Until the Sharks appeared, I was a little concerned that I made a mistake. No shade to all the talented actors who portrayed the Jets, but their characters were not relatable, and they dominate the introduction. I had empathy for them because they had zero authentic, healthy relationships to give them a chance to think of doing anything outside of toxic masculinity activities, but I was not interested in them. Is it Spielberg’s choice or an inherent problem within the story (or life) that the Jets are not humanized or treated as individuals as much as a collective? By dehumanizing others and clinging to a group, they lose their identity.
The Sharks are three-dimensional characters who only exist to defend their community and their property from the Jets’ attacks. “West Side Story” presents the Sharks as people with jobs, families, and dreams who would prefer to do anything else. Bernardo, a professional boxer, explains to Chino (Jose Andres Rivera) about their fighting, “It is stupid, but we have to do it.” They exist in a world where the police will not protect them. Are they vigilantes who take things too far? Yes, but by the denouement when the film shows a world without Sharks nearby to protect people, they seem retroactively measured. Once Bernardo and Chino are on screen, their friendship feels rooted in the real world. Bernardo exists to protect Chino and wants to sacrifice so his family and friends can have a better life than him. He sees Chino as a good man and discourages him from a life of risk. A nerd’s masculinity is not diminished for not adhering to gender norms of violence though Chino feels insecure. Bernardo’s friendship and approval signals a world of men better than the one that dominates the screen. Bernardo’s relationship with women, though chauvinistic, is not a physical threat like the Jets.
“West Side Story” frames the Jets as a threat to women of all ages and races. In one scene at Doc’s store, Riff threatens Valentina (Rita Moreno!!!!), Doc’s widow. In “Gee, Officer Krupke,” Spielberg stages the Jets as a potential threat to an arrested white woman who locks herself in a jail cell to protect herself from the Jets while the police are elsewhere. Though they have not sexually assaulted her or verbally harassed her, the woman’s action is telling. She would rather be in jail than free with these hoodlums. As we near the denouement, all this foreshadowing culminates in a scene that destroys whatever sympathy a viewer may have for the Jets. Spielberg’s stab at women’s solidarity did not work for me in that scene. Unfortunately Google shows that a lot of women encourage men to rape other women so Spielberg’s world is more optimistic, and if we are talking about women who are already cosigning the Jets, I do not think that they would take issue.
“West Side Story” is worth watching for Ariana DeBose’s performance as Anita. Our Queen’s story arc from hopeful, ambitious, vivacious migrant to mournful, vengeful survivor was the most powerful one in the story. We watch the American dream die over the course of two days. DeBose mixes the pain with an older woman’s understanding that Maria is a dumb kid as Anita tries to transcend her pain and help Maria against her better judgment. If she returns to Puerto Rico, she is not fleeing. She is disgusted. New York does not deserve Our Queen, and she will no longer grace you with the privilege of her presence and has run out of patience.
As an older person watching “West Side Story,” Maria misses a lot of red flags. When a guy just got out of jail for almost killing a guy, says that he changed and now he knows that he can do it because he loves you, but breaks his first promise by killing your brother, you are dumb and young. Go for Chino pre-homicidal rage! Tall does not equal attractive or create potential. Also I propose a slight revision to “I Feel Pretty,” “For I’m loved by a pretty wonderful white boy.” Maria is too young to realize that she was taking on the psychological equivalent of a very expensive gutting of a house.
I expected Elgort to be awful based on anecdotal reviews, and I am still angry at him for being the worst part of “The Goldfinch” (2019), but he did fine. He was the tallest person on set so of course Maria would choose him. Tall bias is real. Elgort also did a good job as the dumb, hopeful kid, especially in all his scenes with Valentina, his gateway to understanding that Puerto Ricans are people. Valentina is a better woman than I to invest in him. Also Spielberg’s scenes of Tony transforming the material world into a sparkly surreal reflective oneiric surface, from the store floor to puddles, took me out of the story. I never bought that the Jets liked Tony other than he was their biggest brute. Only Anybodys (Iris Menas) seemed to have a real regard for him, which could have been mixed up with desire.
Menas was the most memorable actor on the Jets’ side. They stole the scene before “Gee, Officer Krupke” and appeared unhinged in a way that made the thuggish Jets seem like amateurs in comparison. None of the other Jets stood out, and I only remembered Riff (Mike Faist) because he had the most lines, but I kept wondering if a younger John Mulaney would have killed the role.
Maria and Tony work, but I found myself shaking my head at the couple’s stupidity. I want to know how Maria is doing now. Tony was her first relationship, and she was the equivalent of Helen of Troy. What do the subsequent chapters of her life look like? Damn!
I eventually got into “West Side Story,” but if I had not, then it truly would have been a bad movie because with a movie that long, any viewer should come along eventually.
