Natalie Wood is awful. Not just awful, but so relentlessly and completely awful she almost single-handedly ruins the picture. It had other problems, but her outrageous miscasting, her laughable attempts at a Puerto Rican "accent", her complete lack of chemistry with her supposed love interest, Richard Beymer, the fact that she was neither a singer nor a dancer but was given a part that required a lot of singing and dancing--neither of which she pulled off--were among the film's downsides. Richard Beymer's performance, however, is not nearly as bad as it's been made out to be. He plays Tony a bit more naive and somewhat goofier, maybe, than he should have, but compared to the acting jobs turned in by most of the other Jet "gang members", it wasn't bad at all. Much of the non-musical dialogue is insipid and painfully outdated even by 1961 standards, and other than Tony Mordente, the members of the Jets gang looked like exactly what they were--Broadway chorus boys. I realize this film isn't a documentary, and it was more important for the actors to be able to sing and dance than it was for them to actually *look* the parts they were playing--the Puerto Rican Sharks were a bit more authentic-looking, which was odd because the two main actors in that gang, George Chakiris (Bernardo) and Gus Trikonis (Indio), weren't Puerto Rican but Greek--but to tell the truth, the Jets were the sissiest looking and acting "gangbangers" I've ever seen. On the other hand, the supporting cast is actually pretty good--Simon Oakland as the gruff and racist Lt. Schrank, Ned Glass as Doc the candy store owner, John Astin as the doofus rec center director--but the "gangsters" themselves are just not very good actors. There are also several numbers where the songs aren't even remotely up to the level of the dancing that accompanies them ("Cool" comes to mind).
That being said, there are several upsides to the film. The dancing is spectacular--especially in the terrific "America" number, which just explodes off the screen at you--and the "Dear Kindly Sergeant Krupke" routine is still hilarious, even if a bit forced. The film's main advantage, however, is Rita Moreno. She is absolutely volcanic and blows everyone off the screen whenever she's on it, whether she's dancing, singing or acting (her scene in the candy store where the Jets rough her up is especially chilling, and it's all entirely due to her). I think Rita was the first real glimpse Middle America got of how smart, funny, sultry and sexy a Latina actress could be--up until then Latinas were mostly caricatures such as Lupe Velez and Carmen Miranda--and in the numbers she was in, especially the "America" routine, you just couldn't keep your eyes off her. You could really feel the pain and anger in her voice when she sang the "Stick To Your Own Kind" number. She won the Oscar for this role, and few actresses deserved it more.
All things considered, it's still a pretty good movie, although frankly much of it is quite dated and doesn't hold up particularly well. But the spectacular dancing, the infectious and beautiful music (especially "Maria") and the Romeo-and-Juliet story still work. Natalie Wood, who didn't belong in this movie at all, doesn't quite manage to sink it entirely, even though she comes close on occasion ("There's a Place for Us" comes across as a bad parody of the old Jeanette McDonald/Nelson Eddy movies where they sing into each other's faces and is hysterical in its awfulness). If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth a look.
That being said, there are several upsides to the film. The dancing is spectacular--especially in the terrific "America" number, which just explodes off the screen at you--and the "Dear Kindly Sergeant Krupke" routine is still hilarious, even if a bit forced. The film's main advantage, however, is Rita Moreno. She is absolutely volcanic and blows everyone off the screen whenever she's on it, whether she's dancing, singing or acting (her scene in the candy store where the Jets rough her up is especially chilling, and it's all entirely due to her). I think Rita was the first real glimpse Middle America got of how smart, funny, sultry and sexy a Latina actress could be--up until then Latinas were mostly caricatures such as Lupe Velez and Carmen Miranda--and in the numbers she was in, especially the "America" routine, you just couldn't keep your eyes off her. You could really feel the pain and anger in her voice when she sang the "Stick To Your Own Kind" number. She won the Oscar for this role, and few actresses deserved it more.
All things considered, it's still a pretty good movie, although frankly much of it is quite dated and doesn't hold up particularly well. But the spectacular dancing, the infectious and beautiful music (especially "Maria") and the Romeo-and-Juliet story still work. Natalie Wood, who didn't belong in this movie at all, doesn't quite manage to sink it entirely, even though she comes close on occasion ("There's a Place for Us" comes across as a bad parody of the old Jeanette McDonald/Nelson Eddy movies where they sing into each other's faces and is hysterical in its awfulness). If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth a look.