7 A production of Romeo and Juliet inspired by West Side Story? Seems like such a crazy premise that it just might work. The Montague gang face the Capulet gang and blood flows freely in this modernized adaptation filmed in Mexico City with beach-amusement area scenes that resemble the Venice section of Los Angeles. Leonardo DiCaprio (Gilbert Grape) and Clare Danes (My So-Called Life) are fetching as Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers. And though the hip gangstas have guns and first-hand knowledge of drive-by shootings, the Bard's deathless prose has all been preserved. Definitely one to see.
