Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth in ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Photo courtesy R&J Releasing, Ltd.
By Megan Bianco
There is a fine line when it comes to screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. Unfortunately with such high notoriety, screen interpretations can come off as forgettable, uninspired or brilliant. Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh have been the two most successful at placing Shakespeare on screen, but Oscar-winner Julian Fellowes proves less successful with his recent interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.
As we all learn in high school, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet come from two families with contempt for each other that runs deep. When Romeo (Douglas Booth) meets Juliet (Hailee Steinfeld) at a masque, it is love at first sight. But with love follows passion, rivalry and death within the families.
Damian Lewis, Natasha McElhone and Ed Westwick co-star as Juliet’s parents and cousin Tybalt, while Kodi Smit-McPhee is Romeo’s friend Benvolio and Stellan Skarsgård is the Prince of Verona. Adapted by Fellowes and directed by Carlo Carlei, there isn’t anything different or new from the traditional 1968 screen version by Franco Zeffirelli people love. It doesn’t put a new spin on the classic like Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 modern adaptation either, so it feels lacking. The scenery and costumes are pretty and Steinfeld gives a fine performance, but the direction borders on unintentionally campy and Lewis gives one of the hammiest portrayals of Shakespeare on film.