West Side Story goes south

Movies: West Side Story

Steven Spielberg’s attempt to resuscitate the Broadway classic stalls in ruts of well-intentioned earnestness and homage to American cliché.

Streaming on Prime Video

Steven Spielberg attempts a fresh take on the Leonard Bernstein / Stephen Sondheim musical that rocked the nation
back in 1961 and picked up 11 oscars at the same time. This new version tries to renovate classic American themes — such as race, class and opportunity — and on some scores, it succeeds in reiterating the failures and flaws of the American experiment with a fresh accent.

Tribalism, gang warfare and notions of what makes up a “real American” push through the ambient contrivances… because
that’s what Speilberg’s brand is sort of based on: Hollywood B.S. Because he has always believed the big screen dream, there’s an earnestness to the undertaking that saves it from the schmaltz flats, but there’s a simple snag in the mix. The movie is a sleepy dream.

Spielberg succeeds in reiterating the failures and flaws of the American experiment with a fresh accent.

The tunes may be recognizable and nothing short of iconic, but they feel disconnected to our current day — not to mention a little dreary. It’s almost as it Spielberg were channeling the monotone spirit of Ken Burns in fashioning this flashback. He brings a documentarian’s accuracy to the images — the production design is stunning — but he can’t help but make us all a little sleepy with a period soundtrack and an extended running time that saps the frames of some much needed chemistry.