West Side Story

Steven Spielberg’s visually stunning interpretation of West Side Story captures the spirit of its source material with style and charm to spare. Yet it also feels like a missed opportunity.

This distinctive and reverent reimagining of the 1957 Tony winner and 1961 Oscar winner offers more spectacle than substance, and minimal fresh perspective or contemporary social context to its classic musical story of love triumphing over hate.

However, it showcases some gorgeous technical wizardry and lively choreography, and gives the venerable theater staple a vibrant facelift while preserving its enduring relevance.

The setting is 1950s Manhattan, where Tony (Ansel Elgort) is a sensitive member of the Jets street gang, primarily Irish and Italian-American descendants engaging in mischief and eluding authorities. Their rivals are the Sharks, a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants led by Bernardo (David Alvarez), who must battle racism for respect.

The line of animosity between the two is blurred at a school dance where Tony meets Bernardo’s sister, Maria (Rachel Zegler), whose mutual attraction sparks a forbidden romance. Once the word gets out, though, the bitterness intensifies among those around them, including Jets leader Riff (Mike Faist), who calls for a showdown for supremacy in the streets.

The screenplay by Tony Kushner (Lincoln) balances the memorable musical numbers with a potent plea for peace and forgiveness beneath the breezy surface. Perhaps it’s too cheesy and cartoonish for millennial audiences, who might balk at the casual use of slurs and oversimplified view of urban gang violence.

Still, the exquisite period re-creation by Spielberg’s ace cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, vibrantly frees the material from its stagebound roots and immerses us in its blue-collar neighborhood with evocative detail. The climactic rumble is staged in an abandoned salt warehouse with visceral intensity.

As the Shakespearean star-crossed lovers, radiant newcomer Zegler outshines Elgort (Baby Driver), especially in terms of vocal range. Meanwhile, the legendary Rita Moreno, who starred in the original film, plays a shopkeeper and delivers a powerful rendition of the wistful ballad “A Place for Us.”

Its timing might be curious, but West Side Story isn’t a pointless remake. The differences between the Sharks and Jets are tame compared to the lines that divide society today, although the film’s underlying message of tolerance still resonates.

Rated PG-13, 156 minutes.