William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet

Australian director Baz Luhrmann transplants the familiar story to modern-day Verona Beach, FL, but it's no WEST SIDE STORY. He keeps the original language intact, and the result is nothing if not audacious: Thugs scream in blank verse and duels are fought with blazing handguns, Shakespeare's words dribble from the mouths of smarmy TV gossip commentators and bored messenger-service dispatchers. The movie opens with a fatuous anchorwoman reciting the prologue against a hackneyed illustration of a broken wedding ring. The Prince of Verona becomes Captain Prince (Vondie Curtis Hall) of the Verona Beach Police, who's mightily pissed off at the chaos on his streets. Mer...