This ambitious undertaking, adapting William Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers and setting the story in a glossy music-video style in 1990s Florida. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes play the famous lovers kept apart by rival industrialist families. Bookended by newscastsers reciting Shakespeare's prose as their copy, this clever glam updating of ROMEO AND JULIET is one of the most unusual adaptations of the Bard's work in the history of cinema. The stylish and colorful sets earned the film an Oscar nomination for art direction. John Leguizamo gives a memorable performance as a devilish Tybalt.
Review 1:
"...A visual flamboyance and an experimental flair..."
Source: Premiere
p.30 12/01/1996
Review 2:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] stylishly energized and vivid adaptation....With a defiantly modern soundtrack."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.117 05/01/2007
Review 3:
"...A whirlwind of hardball action, rowdy humor and rapturous romance....DiCaprio and Danes cut to the heart..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.123-4 11/14/1996
Review 4:
"...It has enough positive energy and dizzying high spirits to make it irresistible..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.F1 11/01/1996
Review 5:
"...DiCaprio brings youthful energy to the role....The language is spotlighted by Danes, who has somehow found a way to both enunciate the Shakespearean lingo and make its meanings lucid and accessible..."
Source: Variety
10/28/1996
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