West Side Story (2021): Review

West Side Story is my favorite Steven Spielberg film since at least Catch Me If You Can. Not merely a worthy successor to the landmark 1961 musical, it's a modern classic on its own terms, and is also a fascinating tour through Spielberg's career.

The 1961 adaptation of West Side Story, co-directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, has been my favorite movie musical ever since I first saw it. 

I don't recall exactly when I saw it in high school, but when I did see it, it fit right in with other operatically intense (if not excessive) romantic tragedies I enjoyed at the time, among them Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (1968), Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Michael Mann's adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and Doug McHenry's Jason's Lyric (1994).

The Robbins/Wise West Side Story (hereafter referred to as '61 WSS) also had the benefit of being just edgy enough not to feel stale to a teenager - racial epithets, snappy insults between cops and hoodlums, suggestions of sex and violence, and an unhappy ending all played a role - making the Romeo and Juliet-inspired love story between Tony and Maria more accessible. I got sucked in to the movie, crushed by the result of the brawl, and shattered by the ending. Considering it was also around the time I first fell in love, this movie (and the others named above) left an indelible mark on my teenage years.

Fast forward decades later, as I walked out of the theater having watched Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (hereafter '21 WSS), I felt something like a teenager again and was asking myself whether or not Spielberg had not only matched the 1961 original, but maybe even surpassed it.

Moving forward, I'm assuming some degree of familiarity with both the '61 WSS and the '21 WSS. Click the links if you require a synopsis of either film.

Let's get into it below the jump, with SPOILERS ahead.

Considerations for Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins

Some thoughts on what the Miami Dolphins have with Tua Tagovailoa, what they could do next, and how to position themselves for long term contention in 2021.

This was a remarkable season of growth bookended by a pair of desultory performances. It started with a quarterback throwing 3 interceptions on the road against a divisional opponent and it likewise ended with a quarterback throwing 3 interceptions on the road against a divisional opponent. 

In between, the Dolphins flirted with defensive dominance, strong special teams, and had a good look at a playoff appearance. The coaching, particularly on defense and game management with a strong instinct for when to deploy gadget plays, helped to hide a very young roster and a wildly inconsistent offense. It resulted in a 10-win season where the Dolphins demonstrated their ability to control poorly coached opponents, as well as teams with limited QBs and limited rosters. 

On the other hand, they were 1-5 against 2020 playoff teams, and 0-4 against MVP caliber QBs (Josh Allen twice, early season Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes), which clearly indicates they aren't yet a championship caliber team. There's several questions on the offensive side of the ball, along with some holes on defense and a roster which  needs more quality depth after the 1st year of a rebuild.

Luckily, the Dolphins (thanks to the 2019 Laremy Tunsil trade with the Houston Texans), have 2 1st round picks, 2 2nd round picks, and at least $33 million in cap space space with which to address these issues.

Author's Note 1: Before we descend into the rabbit hole, I will note that there is conjecture regarding the status of current Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey, though he is on the Dolphins staff as of this writing. I will not discuss the offensive system, as it is beyond the scope of this post. That said...

Down the rabbit hole we go!