Where I Watched It: hulu

English Audio Description Provided By: Descriptive Video Works

I literally just click on new films released by streamers that have audio description for the sheer purpose of coming here and giving you even a passing note as to whether or not the description was good, or if the movie is even worth your precious time. I had no idea what this film was about, and I used IMDB a little bit into the film because i heard what I thought was Bradley Whitford’s voice, and that’s where I finally saw the cast list. i totally watched this knowing zip about it. And, despite that it doesn’t need to exist, I rather enjoyed it.

Technically, we don’t need anymore Romeo and Juliet adaptations. The list is already so long, so when I saw “A long time ago in Verona”, I rolled my eyes. oh God, it’s another Romeo and Juliet movie. But the thing about these films is what people often forget when telling the story of Hamlet, Tarzan, or any other narrative for the umpteenth time. Perspective is everything. If you want to make something feel fresh, instead of making the film about the same characters from the same perspective that everyone has ever done the project, flip the protagonist. And in this film, our protagonist is Rosalyn (Kaitlyn Dever) who is apparently the girl Romeo was wooing before Juliet.

The rest of teh film takes a hilarious look at Verona through the eyes we have today. It makes the same sort of statement about marrying girls off that Katherine Called Birdy just tried to do, but to much different results. The first meeting between Rosalyn and a match set up by her father was actually laugh out loud hilarious, and helped me understand the tone I was in for this film.

Boys are silly, Romeo doesn’t have much to think about, and the rivalry between Rosalyn and her cousin Juliet grows, all the while Rosalyn spends time with a different guy who she swears she won’t marry. Of course, you can guess how that story goes. It all just makes the story more interesting, and makes me wonder if by changing the perspective on so many of these plays, or literary works, could actually breathe new life. If by adding a character we didn’t even know was there, almost like a prequel to the story, we could make something more out of something overdone.

This is just something that Fox dumped onto Hulu, and i don’t think anyone cares about it. however, having seen over 160 films this year, I certainly enjoyed this far more than about 100 other titles I’ve seen this year. It may not be the smartest comedy, or make a revolutionary jump forward, but it does manage to be a nice pick me up. i wish I could say something profound about the audio description, but I’m catching up on reviews, and i saw this a week ago. The fact I don’t remember anything negative about the description is probably a good sign.

Give this film a chance.

Final Grade: B+