#51 West Side Story (1961)

Ugh, a musical. I am a girl, though, and I knew this was a love story, so I had high hopes in spite of the musical genre. It was pretty much the exact story of Romeo & Juliet... Once that was obvious to me, I was interested. The movie has some major issues, though. The main characters are terrible actors, Maria's voice is dubbed (seriously?!), and while it intrigues me that men can dance ballet to a gang violence scene, it seems a little silly to me.

Leonard Bernstein wrote the music, and that was easily my favorite part of the movie. The dancers amazed me, and I can't imagine trying to come up with choreography to go with the crazy changes in time signatures Bernstein loved.

As for why I thought the movie was so-so, I agree with Roger Ebert's review from the re-release in 2004:

"So the dancing is remarkable, and several of the songs have proven themselves by becoming standards, and there are moments of startling power and truth. West Side Story remains a landmark of musical history. But if the drama had been as edgy as the choreography, if the lead performances had matched Moreno's (actress who played Anita, a supporting character) fierce concentration, if the gangs had been more dangerous and less like bad-boy Archies and Jugheads, if the ending had delivered on the pathos and tragedy of the original, there's no telling what might have resulted."

Rating: 5/10

Big Names: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno (who's won a Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar!)