Just twice over the Valentine’s Day weekend, a special showing of” Romeo and Juliet” was broadcast in 800 theaters across the US. This modernized version of “Romeo and Juliet” premiered on Broadway in September of last year, but did not have a successful run, closing just three months later, but not before producers had the chance to film the play and adapt it into a Screenvision movie.

Romeo Montague, portrayed by Orlando Bloom, made his Broadway debut, but performed far above rookie level. His brilliant use of emotion and mastery of Shakespearean language lit up the stage.

Actress Condola Rashad matched her partner’s quality performance, playing the youthful and charming Juliet Capulet.

While both actors gave their best effort to play roles of characters much younger than them, at times their older age was evident, but not a huge distraction from the otherwise strong performances.

When in times the movie could be sad or tragic, the humorous characters, like Nurse and Mercutio, never failed to make the audience crack up.

Although most parts of the show were true to the original production, surprising additions like the several appearances from Lord Capulet, who did not play a huge role in the previous versions, and the African-American Montague family were a pleasant feature of the movie.

The only disappointing part of the production was the lack of a dramatic ending; not enough emotion was present to capture the viewers in the death scene of the star-crossed lovers.

Overall, from the actors to the costumes to the small twists, the movie was a great rendition of Shakespeare’s 16th century tragedy.

by RYLEA GILLIS