Parting isn’t such sweet sorrow here.
William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” is probably my favorite tragedy of his. A tale of forbidden love caught in the middle of a family feud, and how hatred has brought the end to these star crossed lovers. There are many version of this story to be told like a modern day version with Shakespearian dialogue directed by Bah Luhrmann (“Romeo and Juliet” from 1996) or an animated feature with garden gnomes having the red gnomes being the Capulets and the blue gnomes being the Montagues (“Gnomeo & Juliet”). Now, we have a new version with the title in reverse. So instead of “Romeo & Juliet,” this would be known as “Juliet & Romeo.”
This version is supposed to be presented as a bright and elaborate pop musical, and I’m seeing it an expensive Disney Channel movie instead of a Bah Luhrmann entry. And I seriously doubt a Disney Channel movie could afford Jason Isaacs, Rupert Everett, Rebel Wilson, or Derek Jacobi. But I guess Briarcliff Entertainment, which distributes this movie, could. And the songs sound like they want to be like Pasek & Paul’s work, and here, they’re co-created and overseen by E. Kidd Bogart (son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart). At least the tone is more high-spirited than what the movie can provide.
The feud begins when a tyrannical new pope seeks to take all of Rome’s power, and Prince Escalus (Rupert Graves) arriving in Verona to find out which family can align against the pope’s upcoming assault. The Montagues or the Capulets. But of course in the mix, Romeo Montague (Jamie Ward) and Juliet Capulet (Clara Rugaard) both fall in love.
The last “Romeo & Juliet” movie I saw was “Rosaline,” which focused on Juliet’s sassy and awkward cousin Rosaline, played delightfully by Kaitlyn Dever. I thought it was a breezy and comical version. “Juliet & Romeo” tries to be breezy and comical, but it ends up being lackluster and cynical. I’m listening to the great signing, but I’m not really easing into the Shakespeare characters who are basically presented here as Disney Channel characters.
You also have Jason Isaacs as Romeo’s father Lord Montague, Rupert Everett and Rebel Wilson as Juliet’s parents Lord and Lady Capulet, Derek Jacobi as Friar Laurence, Dan Fogler as the Apothecary, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, Nicholas Podany as Romeo’s close friend Mercutio, and Tayla Parx as Rosaline. I think Jacobi is the most believable of the bunch, while others either try too hard or do very little with their own portrayals.
I’m not going to complain about the English dialogue spoken here nor its attempts to give this version a happy ending. But what I find most disillusioning is its attempts to make it a two-part movie. I don’t even think it’s going to be a hit, especially since there’s very little promotions for it. And even if it did, I still wasn’t appeased by the choices made here, especially when it chooses to close with cynicism.
“Juliet & Romeo” was written and directed by Timothy Scott Bogart, another one of Neil Bogart’s sons, who also made the would-be music biopic “Spinning Gold.” These movies seem to have good taste in music, but bad taste in filmmaking and creativity. And for my two cents, this is the weakest R&J story since the 2013 with Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld.
