Private Romeo (2011)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Fantastic!

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is one of the strangest versions of "Romeo And Juliet" I've come across, mostly because of its setting. I'm fairly certain there have been more films based on "Romeo And Juliet" than "Hamlet". This version is set in modern times, but it doesn't feature two characters from warring families. It actually features two boys in the military who have a gay romance. Their love is forbidden because this was a time where we questioned whether or not gays should be in the military. Now, this movie does have a really good moral to it. Don't judge gays, obviously.The thing that weighs this down is how the execution is really off. It actually features the boys reciting the actual "Romeo And Juliet" play while in this romance. It's pretty awkward to watch. I can see why most people think this movie is just okay. The atmosphere isn't that good. I'll still give this movie credit for putting a new spin on such a classic tale. Since this movie was made, gays have been given complete rights in the United States and that's something I'm always glad to be behind. **1/2

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.

At first when I watched the movie, I couldn't get through it all knowing that the two were going to die (everyone past freshmen year of high school should know this). The next day I decided to finish it anyway and I'm glad that I did. First let me say that the acting was phenomenal. In high school and after watching the newer movie with Leonardo DeCaprio many many times I still didn't truly understand the story of Romeo and Juliet, probably because of how our language now and the language then were so different and it was hard to muddle through. But displayed from a gay point of view I suddenly found myself relating to their story and understanding via body language. Many parts confused me but that was probably the difficulty of mixing Elizabethan with modern speech and making the original story relatable to an all male military high school. And there were a few parts that angered me, but it was a brilliant choice to alter the traditional Capulet vs Montague feud to tailor it toward homophobia, someone most every gay man or woman can relate to.SPOILERS!!!I also appreciated how little of violence there was. Mercutio and Tybalt didn't actually die, instead they got into a fist fight that Romeo broke up, injuring Tybalt.The ending came with mixed feelings for myself, a little confusion but mostly a sense of satisfaction the original story could never offer. The fact that no one dies at all gave the story less of a tragic feel, though that was a major part of the original story it still sat well for me, though others may disagree.From what I gathered, Romeo drinks the remaining concoction that the friar made to fake "Juliet's" death thinking it was poison (though that may not be the case as he states that the crimson and rose has not left "her" lips) and then cuddles up to "her". The friar appears and wakes "Juliet", urging "her" to flee before the watchmen come, but instead "she" stays, kissing Romeo once more and awakening him. After one more kiss the scene fades to static shots of the school and then shows "Juliet" sing "You made me love you" to the camera as the credits then begin to role.This ending left me feeling both good and bad. I think they could have done without the song at the end and maybe extended on the fact that both boys survived and probably had to face some pretty serious consequences as Romeo had injured Tybalt and he and "Juliet" had a gay love affair in a military school.All in all I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys the classic tale (and any straight guy who can handle two guys passionately kissing lol)

Updated Shakespeare is all the rage since the days of doing Hamlet in modern dress, or the nude version. We have seen and enjoyed everything from Richard III to Coriolanus in updated fashion.A few years back we offered a course in Updated Shakespeare to English majors, and we found a growing army of updated tales on film, whether it was Much Ado about Nothing or A Midsummer Night's Dream.We even loved Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo and Juliet, and we came with some trepidation to something called Private Romeo.The premise seemed a mite strained. A few cadets at a military academy are left alone at the campus, fending for themselves while the officers and other cadets are off on maneuvers. In one class the stranded and bereft young cadets are studying Shakespeare's romantic tragedy, and they seem to begin to live it.The idea is not so far-fetched, as the original play deals with young hothead teenage gang members in rival factions. There is a secret love story interwoven among the hostilities and budding male adolescent angst.So it is in Private Romeo. The shock of the rival gangs over Romeo's love may be more palatable because the forbidden affair is with another cadet. We found the Shakespearean dialog most apt to cover the situation.The idea of first-love being misguided and overly passionate may befit a gay tale of coming out among cadets.We can forgive a small budget movie stretching its wings, and we can even forgive a half dozen cadets looking like the Glee Club, not future ROTC members. Apart from that, the story picks up steam under director Alan Brown.Scenes from R&J are cleverly woven into conversations about Romeo's unorthodox military affair. Action plays out on basketball court and chemistry lab. Like Elizabethan times, male actors play female roles like Nurse and Juliet's mother, this time in the guise of young cadets. The actors handle multiple roles and dialog is lifted from Shakespeare to meet the situation.This brave effort features Matt Doyle as Cadet Mangan and his alter ego Juliet. Doyle is soft and vulnerable, but hardly feminine or in drag. Seth Numrich plays Cadet Singleton and Romeo. They are commendable.If all male casts disturb you, you would not have been able to appreciate Shakespeare's work played by all male casts in the writer's lifetime.