Amazon.com video review:
Baz Luhrmann
(Strictly Ballroom)
takes a shot at reinventing
Shakespeare's story of
star-crossed lovers as a visual pastiche inspired by MTV imagery, Hong
Kong action-picture clichés, and Luhrmann's own taste for deliberate,
gaudy excess. The result is explosive chaos, both in terms of bullets
and visual sensibility, which some may find impossible to stick with
for more than a few minutes. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes play
the leads, though not with much distinction, while Pete Postlethwaite
makes a huge impression as this movie's version of Friar Laurence. The
film is successful in spots, but overall its fever-dream game plan is
difficult to ride out. --Tom Keogh
