2.5 out 5 stars
You would think there would be a limit to the number of times that William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet could be retold over the years. Yet, each year there is a new story to be told that includes the classic tale of love and familial divisions, and we keep coming back for more of the tragic lovers. When You Were Mine is Rebecca Serle’s re-imagining of this love story from the perspective of Romeo’s jilted girlfriend, who had heard all of the famous lines prior to being left behind for the beauty of Juliet.
Retitled to the name of the vengeful sweetheart of the infamous suiter, Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever), this version contains a change of the narrative. Despite being set in the same era as Shakespeare’s original play, this world has all of the language and trappings of the modern world overlaid on the familiar vision. Where Romeo (Kyle Allen) is a bit of a player who struggles to keep from climbing the balconies of different young women and sharing his poetic verse. He begins with Juliet’s cousin and plans to run away with her until he meets the fair Juliet (Isabela Merced). This leads to Rosaline putting a devious plan in place to break up these star-crossed lovers to gain back admiration and love of her Romeo.
After hearing the opening dialogue and seeing how things were unfolding, it is a wonder why they chose to keep the actors in traditional garb. This aspect does add momentarily to the humour. Still, director Karen Maine (Starstruck) could have easily set things in Los Angeles, which would have been as convincing. Understandably, the comedic atmosphere is exacerbated by the setting and wardrobe. Yet, this Bridgerton adaptation leads to more distractions than laughs as the screenplay unfolds.
Kaitlyn Dever does show that she has the strength to carry a film production and has become Hollywood’s latest ‘it’ girl. Her performance is complemented by Minnie Driver’s antics as her faithful nurse. When these two actors are on screen, their verbal sparring makes for enjoyable moments in a somewhat predictable and mundane retelling of the original tale. Sean Teale does his best as Rosaline’s potential passionate distraction. Still, along with the rest of the cast, he looks exasperated with the whole story. The same can be said by the rest of the cast, who do their best to push forward the comedy, but must realise that there is little left for them outside of the scenes with Dever.
Instead of re-imagining history to fit modern sensibilities, this production would have been more believable and enjoyable if it had been set in Southern California. Rosaline has the potential to offer something more to its audience, but works its way into a predictable parody of itself.
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REEL DIALOGUE - Are Christians allowed to be romantic?
Romeo and Juliet continues to be the benchmark for romance, even though it is tragic. Throughout history, romance has been a part of literature, music, plays, and films throughout the centuries, but can it be found in the Bible? God can be considered the creator of all things, and romance is one of his best creations. This statement may sound bizarre to some, but the Bible is viewed as a love letter to His creation.
Within a committed marriage relationship, romance is a means of increasing the enjoyment of love for one another and even God. The Song of Solomon is a book filled with romantic demonstrations of love between a bride and groom. Displays of affection are encouraged and applauded by God as a part of his inspired word.
