If you are looking for another remake of the Shakespeare classic “Romeo and Juliet” fully equipped with Early Modern English and an excessively dramatic plot line, “Rosaline” is not for you.
From director Karen Maine (“Yes, God, Yes”), this twist on the classic tale is a raunchy and sarcastic comedy focused on Juliet’s (Isabela Merced, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”) cousin, Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever, “Booksmart”). The film follows Dever’s character as she avoids a number of eligible bachelors, recovers from her secret love with Romeo (Kyle Allen, “The In Between”) and navigates a tumultuous relationship with Juliet.
For 96 minutes, audiences can expect quick paced, witty and nonchalant humor. The acting is not necessarily cringeworthy but it is certainly nothing remarkable. Rosaline’s dry humor is light-hearted and provides a few notable laughs. This humor, however, is largely supported by side characters like Paris (Spencer Rayshon Stevenson, “Rollers”) and Steve the courier (Nico Hiraga, “Moxie”).
Plus, the absurdity of modern language and profanities in a 14th century setting offers a fun but rather tired form of comedy that gets old a little too quickly. In fact, the comedy heavily relies on awkward conversations, characters that are deliberately obtuse and even a few cases of slapstick humor.
The visual appeal of this film is arguable. The costuming by Mitchell Travers (“Hustlers”) communicates the time period well while virtually blending into the background. The mix of neutral toned clothing and set design removes any possibility of the breathtaking stills that have become increasingly popular within the period film genre. The camera movements and overall cinematography is reminiscent of nearly every romantic comedy imaginable and offers nothing new.
The movie, though lacking in a number of ways, is not hard to watch by any means. It offers up a rom-com heroine story with feminist undertones and a widely diverse cast. The modern language, though too heavily relied on in terms of comedic purposes, is exactly what most young audiences hope for. This along with a cast of characters that range in age, race and sexuality is increasingly demanded by audiences, rightfully so.
It is refreshing to see another female-led movie with a character that is unapologetically outspoken. Rosaline is dead set on avoiding marriage or anything having to do with the traditional position of women at that time throughout the whole film. She is headstrong and determined to be the author of her own story. There are no remarkable demonstrations of feminism, minus some satire that pokes fun at these ridiculous social positions, but the effort should not be overlooked.
Maine’s previous works have all had very similar feminist undertones with female leads expressing their frustrations through their outrageously sarcastic and unapologetic demeanors. The thing about “Rosaline” is that while it pokes fun at a number of romantic tropes, it ends up playing into a lot of the same ones. That being said, while romance does show up quite a bit in the film, there are also a number of scenes that focus on family and friend relationships. This provides a nice break from a generally hectic storyline and the intentionally dramatic displays of romance.
It is clear that this film had an opportunity to become another fan favorite alongside other period pieces like “Emma” and “Bridgerton,” but it lacks many of the highly significant aspects these examples depend on like effortless humor, believable romance and breathtaking stills. Overall, “Rosaline” is simply a good movie. It is not anyhting too remarkable, but it is enjoyable nonetheless.
Image from 20th Century Studios via YouTube
