'Rosaline' Review: This Spirited Shakespeare Re-Imagining Gives A New Meaning to 'Star-Crossed'
SOPHOMORE DIRECTOR KAREN MAINE DELIVERS A ENDEARING PERIOD COMEDY.
The world of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has proved to be a long-appealing sandbox for many creatives, with countless stage productions, film adaptations, and in recent memory, some ‘re-imaginings.’ Sophomore director Karen Maine’s feature, Rosaline is the latest take on the timeless fable, adapting the popular young-adult novel, ‘When You Were Mine’ by Rebecca Serle. Rosaline tells a new take on the story, in which Rosaline, (Kaitlyn Dever) the love interest of Romeo, who is only present in the form of an off-hand mention in the original play, and takes its creative liberties as a modernized version of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ now told from the perspective of Rosaline.
The basic premise of Rosaline exists within the events of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ and has a lot of fun with its setting and premise, essentially taking the events and re-structuring them with the conventions of a romantic comedy, which is something that Maine’s comedic sensibilities are tailor-made for. The presence of romantic comedy aspects in period films isn’t always something that works well, and admittedly does take a while to really flourish in the case of Rosaline, but Maine is able to blend the two worlds well enough by the time the film gets moving. Rosaline’s character arc evolving while the events of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ unfold within the narrative can somewhat feel like a distraction from Rosaline’s main character arc, but as the film goes on, they slowly start to feel more clever in blending all the characters and plot lines together. Rosaline plays both saboteur and matchmaker for the iconic couple, making for several antics and standout scenes along the way, while also infusing some modernity and earnestness by way of rom-com tropes, which work rather well most of the time. These choices can take a little while to get used to however, but pay off well enough in the end.
Kaitlyn Dever and Kyle Allen star in ‘Rosaline.’
Rosaline, in large part, succeeds to create a fun film by merits of its immensely talented creative team, all of whom shine in some way, shape, or form. The film owes a lot of why it really works to its performances. Kaitlyn Dever shines as the titular Rosaline. Dever gets to fully unleash her comedic chops, which is always a treat, and also shines in the more emotional and romantic moments as well. Convincing performances in the period genre are not easy to pull off, yet Dever does so with ease, blending comedy and heart seamlessly, delivering yet another performance which cements her as one of the finest young actors of the generation, adding one more impressive performance into a resume chalk-full of them. Kyle Allen, no stranger to the romantic comedy genre himself, plays a great Romeo, providing laughs and re-contextualizing the legendary heartthrob within the confines of this new story, and is able to have effortless chemistry with multiple co-stars. Isabela Merced is wonderful as Juliet, who appears in this story as Rosaline’s cousin, and embodies all of the warmth and wit the character is known for. Supporting turns from veteran talents Bradley Whitford and Minnie Driver in small roles help to round out the already strong comedic prowess of the film. The score by Ian Hultquist and Drum & Lace is wonderfully whimsical and compliments every scene throughout the film. The costuming accentuates the period elements of the film, and is believable to resemble The Bard’s storied description of Fair Verona’s residents centuries ago.
Kaitlyn Dever and Isabela Merced star in ‘Rosaline.’
Another big strength of Rosaline is its apt sensibility as a film. While it does have fun with its premise, and even pokes fun at it a little bit, it never becomes distractedly meta or tongue-in-cheek with its handling of it all. Where there is comedy, there is also a bit of a levity and a drive to it. Maine’s directorial sensibilities really shine in the scenes where characters really get to interact and converse, one-on-one, which the film is not short on. The film’s “love-triangle” between Rosaline, Romeo, and Juliet does fall into some cliches, but for the most part, is also able to provide some decently nuanced character relationships along the way. While the pacing and editing can feel a little jarring at times, they never retain such feeling for too long at a time. From a visual standpoint, the film leaves a bit to be desired, and the production design pales as well in comparison to the flamboyancy of other ‘Romeo and Juliet’ adaptations, and while the film does a fine job of feeling distinct, it never quite looks so.
While not the most ravishing story told with characters named Romeo and Juliet, Rosaline, anchored by another star turn from Kaitlyn Dever, provides a cute, brisk, and spirited romantic comedy that makes the most of its fun premise and confines, and is sure to please Shakespeare fans and anyone looking for a laugh and a good time.