Romeo and Juliet review

A Shakespeare adaptation? Of Romeo and Juliet? That’s new… Ok, it’s not, we’ve seen it all before and in a particularly spectacular fashion if you’re talking about Baz Luhrman’s 1996 version. This version, starring Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, the forthcoming Ender’s Game) and Douglas Booth (Great Expectations) as the star-crossed lovers (I feel like that line has been used before) is trying to appeal to the younger, more romantically inclined audience who miss Twilight films.

Juliet is young, optimistic (at the beginning at least), and head-over-heels in love with the only son of her father’s enemy. Bit of a pickle, really. Steinfeld is genuinely great to watch and because she was only 15 when filming, she really fits the part. The trouble is the chemistry between her and Douglas Booth, or the lack of it. If I’m honest, I blame the age gap (Booth was 19 when filming) and also, Booth’s acting abilities. He’s very, very beautiful but he didn’t exactly stretch himself. C+ for effort.

The supporting cast is strong: Damian Lewis as Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, Paul Giamatti as the interfering Friar Lawrence and Christian Cooke (from Cemetery Junction who incidentally, I bumped into at Oxford Circus today, fact fans) as Mercutio. The script is easy to follow, thanks to Julian Fellowes (creator of Downton Abbey), who has been panned for changing Shakespeare’s language but you can understand his reasoning. If he wasn’t quite so patronising about it… The pace of the film was great until they dragged the ending out for half an hour but to be honest, I can't quite understand why it's getting such a slating. It's approaching a new audience, it's stripped back and it's an easy watch, which is unsual for old Shakey.