Film Review: ROSALINE (2022): Kaitlyn Dever Shines in a Clever Variation of a Classic Shakespeare Tale

Rosaline Review

Rosaline (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Karen Maine, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and starring Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Sean Teale, Kyle Allen, Minnie Driver, Spencer Stevenson, Bradley Whitford, Christopher McDonald, Nico Hiraga, Allstair Toovey, Alhajil Fofana, Mercedes Colon, Nicholas Rowe, Valentina Carnelutti, Lew Temple and Henry Hunter Hall.

Rosaline is a re-imagining of William Shakespeare’s beloved play, Romeo and Juliet. Based on a book by Rebecca Serle called When You Were Mine, and directed by Karen Maine, the new film is, at times, too clever for its own good. It’s entertaining to watch, though, and will hold the audience’s attention but, sometimes, one may feel that some of the movie’s themes and ideologies are a bit too blunt.

Kaitlyn Dever is the movie’s star and she’s the film’s saving grace. Playing the title role of Rosaline, Dever has come a long way as an actress. She was a co-star of one of the best comedies of the past decade, Laggies, she was the lead in Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart and one of the key stars in the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen. She also has a new movie opening next week, Ticket to Paradise, which will most likely propel her to stardom if Rosaline doesn’t do it first.

Dever’s Rosaline is madly in love with Romeo (an intriguing Kyle Allen) as the film opens. Romeo is comparing Rosaline to the sun and the moon and things couldn’t be more optimistic for the two of them. When Rosaline’s dad Adrian Capulet (Bradley Whitford) overhears the two talking on the balcony, he gets a bit suspicious of Rosaline but she says she’s talking to herself to help her go to the bathroom. By the way, it must be said this movie is spoken with modern day English for almost the entire movie so no there’s no need to avoid the film for being too “Shakespearean” in terms of its dialogue.

Adrian has Rosaline meeting would-be suitors who are losers and this makes Rosaline miss the masked costume ball she promised to meet Romeo, a Montague, at. For those who don’t remember, the Monagues and Capulets are feuding families. It’s the same concept here as in the original play. Rosaline’s nurse is Janet, and Driver’s character tries to help Rosaline keep her optimism regarding her would-be relationship with Romeo. One problem, though: Since Rosaline doesn’t make it to the costume ball, Romeo meets Juliet (Isabela Merced) there and those two fall in love instead.

The costume ball sequence is humorous with modern day songs such as “Dancing on My Own” and somewhat modern songs such as “It Must Have Been Love” on the soundtrack. The movie’s title card says our story is happening a really long time ago but not too long ago for audience members to remember the movie’s pop culture references such as its song.

Rosaline wants Romeo back so she manipulates her cousin, Juliet, into thinking that the bar scene is the way to go to meet people. In a terrific scene, the two go out and Rosaline suggests getting as many men to buy them drinks as possible. That’s because Rosaline wants Juliet out of the picture so she can pursue her own romance with Romeo.

Rosaline has a lot of good characters in it. Sean Teale plays the real love interest for Rosaline, Dario, who is a hunk with all his teeth that is actually probably a better match for Rosaline than Romeo is. Spencer Stevenson is funny as Rosaline’s confidante, Paris, and, as a mailman, Nico Hiraga has a hilarious scene where he tries to remember if he delivered Rosaline’s letter to Romeo. Driver’s character is also witty and clever such as when she tells Rosaline she spent seven years in nursing school to simply just work in Rosaline’s house. Isabela Merced is well-cast as Juliet. Stay tuned for the end credits scene where she tells Romeo she likes pizza as the two try to make small talk and this sequence has a whole lot more fun stuff to catch so don’t miss it.

This film has flaws. Though Dever is absolutely superb as Rosaline, sometimes her character is so pessimistic that it ruins the mood of the movie. Dever does nothing wrong, though. She’s so right in the role, it’s almost perfect but the writing of the film could have been a little more uplifting. It’s sarcasm sometimes gets in the way of the fun and that can be a problem for people who are appreciating the light-hearted nature of the movie in the earlier scenes.

Still, Rosaline is a very entertaining picture. Merced has a sophistication and an elegance about her which makes her a natural choice for Juliet. But, this is Dever’s movie all the way through. Nobody really gets to steal a scene from her. The performers in the picture are good and complement her talents but Dever runs all the way with this role scoring a major victory for her acting career which will definitely be solidified next week with Ticket to Paradise.

Rating: 7/10

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