Perfect cast and a good story

From my favorite movies..

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

First of all, I was truly excited when hearing about this film, however, having finally started watching it, I was in fact very confused about what was unfolding in front of me on the screen. I did not expect Shakespeare in this setting, however I was intrigued, so I set to watch the film.It took me a good few minutes to figure out the characters in both the Romeo and Juliet setting as well as the Private Romeo setting. Numerous actors play numerous characters which makes it that much more confusing and constantly during the film you see the students reading the play and then the play takes place in real time and real life. This i did not understand. Is the idea that they portray the story of Romeo in Juliet as they read it in class? Is this supposedly happening in real life ironically while they are busy discussing Romeo and Juliet in class? The concept of Romeo and Juliet in this setting has its moments in which it works and then moments where it fails. The entire point of Romeo and Juliet is about two star-crossed lovers whose fate is bound in the fact that their love is forbidden because of a feud between their families. In this situation that feud which binds the entire story together transcends to, I presume, the lack of accepting gay love in a military school setting but is not brought across very well. With the exception of the Tybalt character all the boys are for it and tries to help the two lovers.Many of the iconic moments of Shakespeare's play is lost and could have been done better. The lovers meeting was sudden and unexpected with no build up and happened in an awkward setting. The monumental balcony scene takes place in a classroom and lacks the tantalizing secrecy of two lovers doing wrong in the night. But for that same matter there are moments that were presented very well. The fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt was good and then between Tybalt and Romeo. The lovers waking up after Romeo's banishment was done beautifully. Juliet's drinking of the elixir that fakes death was brilliant and spell binding and kudos to Matt Doyle for doing that so well.The film has a happy ending with the two lovers reuniting and then Juliet sings a random love song.What saves this movie in my opinion is that the acting is brilliant and the delivery of the Shakespearean lines are done very well. It is worth mentioning that Hale Appleman steals the show and is mesmerizing to watch as Mercutio.In concept I loved the film, but I feel that it lacked structure which in effect made the film loose and chaotic. It is a brilliant idea that was executed, not poorly, but far from brilliantly. Maybe what could have happened was to shoot it in two different "dimensions". The reading of the play in the classroom and then the real life execution of the play in the military academy setting.But all in all, you will either love it or hate it. Despite its faults, I enjoyed the film. I just wish that it had more structure.

This film is an experiment that mostly works. The three parallel universes that both the actors and we must inhabit are: an authentic depiction of the life at a military academy, the reading of Romeo and Juliet in a classroom setting, and the power of the play as it is acted out. Lots of cognitive dissonance. Of course, we humans don't like cognitive dissonance. Some people who watch this movie will be grumpy that none of the universes are fully realized. That's why this is an experiment. What would it be like if...I think some dissonance is a good thing. Brains are made to puzzle over simultaneous realities that don't fit. I think we have to accept that the three lives of this movie will never fit perfectly together. But I do agree with most reviewers that the question of real love between the two young cadets who use the cover of the play to live their attraction is central to the production. This is underlined by the writer/director's decision to rewrite the ending so that the two lovers are not killed off. The choice is a very nice break with the tragic melodramas of many gay- theme films where the gay characters are in some way lessened at the end lest we forget that gay love must be chastened in some way.Are these American actors? I think they're Canadian. I seldom see American actors capable of delivering Shakespeare's lines like they know what they're saying. But maybe I'm thinking of movie actors who, with few exceptions (Robert Downey Jr. is one) make my skin crawl when they try to do Shakespeare. And making the tenderness between Romeo and Juliet believable? Doesn't seem American to me. My only question is: Why do we get the rendition of "You Made Me Love You" at the end? Nice opportunity for one actor to sing, but what did it have to do with the movie? That's one bit of dissonance that really doesn't resolve for me.Otherwise, I'll be thinking about this movie for a long time. Something most movies these days can hardly expect of their audiences.

Private Romeo is a wonderful experiment and another entry in the extensive library of films highlighting the timeless genius of William Shakespeare. It proves that Romeo and Juliet can be translated into almost any setting. As a movie, it is somewhat lacking. Shakespeare's play combines a perfect mix of romance, comedy and tragedy. Unfortunately, the movie only gets one of them right.The romance between Glenn Mangan (aka Juliet) and Sam Singleton (aka Romeo) is honest and believable. The actors deliver their lines as well or better than many other Shakespearean actors.But, with one exception, whatever comedy there is seems completely unintentional. The film is set in an all-boys military academy, so the lines normally spoken by female characters are instead spoken by men. Every time a person said "Juliet" or "Nurse" or "her" I was taken out of the movie and left to ponder the "experiment". Men referring to other men as females became funny after a while. Chris Bresky, who plays Omar Madsen (aka the Nurse), through no fault of his own, was often the source of this unintentional comedy. But he also has the one genuinely funny scene when he returns to Juliet to deliver Romeo's answer to Juliet's question regarding marriage. It is also one of my favorite scenes in Shakespeare's play and Bresky does it beautifully.But the movie really goes off the rails as a tragedy. In Shakespeare's original, tension is established by two warring families who will only declare peace when they each lose a child. None of this happens in the movie. Only eight students are left behind at the academy, and two of them, Ken Lee (aka the Prince) and Adam Hersh (aka Friar Laurence), are not part of either "family". It's hard to understand the tension among the other six students. Romeo and Juliet are both gay, and when they "come out" during the party, no one seems to be particularly homophobic. Carlos Moreno (aka Tybalt) is upset, but it's unclear why. Is it because they're gay? From different social classes? From different battalions? The battle between the two sides is never clearly defined and we are left to wonder what the problem is.Romeo and Juliet is a play about coincidences. Romeo goes to the party after being shown the guest list and seeing Rosaline's name. He stumbles over the wall just in time to see Juliet emerge on the balcony. He happens upon Mercutio and Tybalt in the midst of a heated argument. Friar Laurence's letter to Romeo in Mantua gets delayed. Romeo drinks the poison only moments before Juliet awakens. And the Friar arrives at the tomb too late to save Romeo and leaves too early to save Juliet. Each of these coincidences leads inexorably to the play's tragic conclusion.But no one dies in the movie, so the coincidences, such as they are, are meaningless. Since there is no tension between two warring tribes, the "deaths" of the two protagonists are meaningless. And what did their "deaths" accomplish? Upon awakening, Romeo and Juliet are in the exact same situation they were when they "died". Nothing gets resolved and no one is changed.The movie is a fine experiment, but I can't recommend it.On a final note, the acting is superb with kudos to everyone. Hale Appleman (aka Mercutio) is outstanding, and I hope to see him in other movies in the future.

Quite some time ago I saw the play R&J in New York on which this film is based. It was one of the most exciting evenings of theatre I have experienced. Theater to film transitions aren't always successful due to a shift in emphasis from language and suggestion to visual storytelling. Angels in America is wonderful on stage - not so much on screen. Here the concept of the play was changed just enough to satisfy the visual requirements of cinema but keeps the spirit of the play (sort of). They are different enough to stand apart, and at the same time it can be said this is one of the most successful screen versions of a play.If 75% of all people who rated this film gave it a 6 or better, and if 30% of all the people who rated this film give it a 9 or 10, how can the average rating be 5 point something?!