Romeo and Juliet

A hollow, regrettable attempt by Julian Fellows of Downtown Abbey to adapt Romeo and Juliet to make it more accessible for today's audience. He should have left it alone. The changes he made in plot and character are horrendous and have made this one of the worst of all filmed versions of Romeo and Juliet.

The movie is absolutely ravishing to look at with its brilliant sets and costumes and actual period pieces, but that's all it has going for it. Remember it was all shot in VERONA, where the Shakespearean drama unfolded. Haile Steinfeld is horribly MISCAST as Juliet, really a terrible performance. Douglas Booth as Romeo comes off somewhat better being a very dashing young actor who can show some sensitivity and emotion. I took him somewhat seriously whereas Steinfeld was not believable for a moment. I Kept saying to myself how could this gorgeous youth fall for this horse faced young woman of 14. This is the first BAD performance I've ever seen from the brilliant Paul Giamatti as Friar Lawrence. The fault really lay with the script and direction because the man can and has done everything brilliantly in the past.

The conclusion is more than somewhat changed from that of Shakespeare which turns the film into a total nightmare. MY " 3 " is for Douglas Booth. Otherwise this would go down as another " 1 " film. Yes! It is that bad! 'As said, visually, the film is damn fine.