Mercutio himself is reinvented as a dreadlocked drag queen with a psychotic edge in a captivating performance by Harold Perrineau Jr. Tybalt (John Leguizamo), comes across as a hissy, preening leather stud, perhaps leading to the interpretation of the duel between Tybalt and Mercutio as a jealous fight between two queens, butch and fem, over Romeo (as when Tybalt hisses "Thou consortest with Romeo").
             As Romeo, Leonardo DiCaprio plays up the intensity level of the young lover a bit too much, with a tendency to shout his lines. The undeniable star of the show is Claire Danes -- her Juliet hits just the right note of innocence and intelligence, vulnerability and exceptional guts. There is brilliance here.
             The love between Romeo and Juliet is staged with gusto and imagination. The wordless moment when Juliet and Romeo stare shyly at each other through the glass of a fish tank, and the transmogrified '
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