West Side Story (2021)

Ansel Elgort's puffy, sleepy face ruined it for me. I just couldn't buy a relationship between one so lifeless and the other so full of life. This is largely a love story, of instant, intense infatuation. That's Romeo and Juliet and that's West Side Story. Such infatuation isn't credible when one severely underwhelms the other's energy. She wouldn't care about him. He'd be like Chino. This isn't so in the 1961 film. There, Tony has a spark in his eyes, spring in his step, big smile, facial muscles capable of expressing emotions.

I wonder what the rest of the cast thought. We're all so multi-talented and vivacious, and then there's Ansel. It's really a bummer. It's a bigger bummer for the romance than anything, but also a bummer for his other scenes. He doesn't fit in, and it blunts the whole movie.

Everyone else is excellent: Maria, Bernardo, Riff, Anita. They are inspiring and energetic. I got the feeling there was less dancing this time around; I could have used more of it.

I wouldn't mind sleepy Ansel in other contexts. Sometimes I idolize that archetype. But it doesn't work here. Would it work in any musical theater? Why does it seem this obvious incompatibility went unnoticed?

The only other flaw that really stuck out was some confused tone/mood. There were moments the emotions were poorly guided and I felt confused or awkward. I know that's what real life is like -- lots of ambiguity -- and some movies pull it off intentionally, but here it felt accidental. It felt like I was supposed to be swept up in a tide that was baffled by destructive interference. Movies can be sweeping or ambiguous, and pull either off, if it's subtle. I think this one fumbled a few times between the two. It wasn't a huge deal though. Maybe wakeful Ansel would've been enough to secure the sweep: the final bristle.