Chino's dancing was cringy...
Trying to impress Maria with that dancing. What a mess. I didn't care for that actor who played Chino at all either.
shareHis dancing was supposed to be cringeworthy, he was the nerd character.
But he was having a good time, and Maria was happy that someone asked her to dance, even a nerd.
I understand that. I just didn't like the actor who played him. Everyone else was good, but I just didn't like him or that dancing. If another actor played him, I might have chuckled at it, but I just didn't like him or the scene.
shareYou weren't supposed to like him, he first purpose in the cast was to be Maria's Mr. Wrong, and his second purpose was to turn bad and kill. He was supposed to be unlikable!
I don't think the actor did a particularly good job, he seemed too old, and like he'd wandered in from another universe. A guy who was trying to escape the mean streets and be an office drone should have had some traces of roughness visible, but this guy seemed like an office drone wandering into the mean streets and trying to fit in.
I guess what you said is what I meant. I didn't think he was right for the Chino part. I didn't like his look or how he was so awkward. He was nothing like Chino from the original movie. Not sure why Spielberg went that route. He was supposed to be Maria's Mr. Wrong, but he was just so glaringly wrong that I felt it was just too much. He just did not fit the part imo.
shareIt sounds like it, from the way you describe Chino in the new West Side Story, that he was an extreme version of Chino.
From what I've seen of Spielberg's West Side Story film version, and from what I've been hearing about it from you and a lot of other posters on here, the actors who played both the Jets and the Sharks played gangsters with extreme anger, as well as extreme racial, cultural and ethnic prejudices, without any moments of fairness at all to each other.
In the old, original 1961 film version, Chino came off as a shy and gentle, but likable guy, and not always bitter and full of hatred, like Bernardo was. Unfortunately, when his friend Bernardo was knifed to death in the Rumble due to Bernardo's stabbing Riff to death, and Tony's retaliatory stabbing of Bernardo, Chino abruptly turned. His entire countenance and personality changed, which was obvious in the original 1961 film version of WSS, generally, and it was clear that he wanted to avenge his best friend, Bernardo's death.
The deaths of Riff, Bernardo, and Tony had been a long time coming, as had the Rumble been, generally, especially since all three of them were gang leaders who'd done their share of perpetrating violence, and, as often happens, ultimately ended up on the receiving end of it, as well.
Chino was not part of the Sharks. He was a nerd who was being educated. He was trying to impress Maria with his dancing and the actor played the part quite well as someone who could not dance. The actor did a great job to convey that he got up the nerve to impress Maria and started to dance like no one was watching. My heart went out to him. Poor guy. I think the actor did a great job with the character........unlike the Chino character we did not get to know at all in the Robert Wise film. That is a great example of what Spielberg's adaptation of the play added to his film. Genius at work.
shareIt was a nice dialogue-free moment, because it not only showed that he was a dork and Mr. Wrong... but Maria's reaction to being asked to dance by the least cool guy at the dance showed what a sweet girl she was. She was thrilled! She joined right with to his dorky dad moves!
Incidentally, why WAS the lovely Maria sitting there attracting zero male attention? And how old were these characters supposed to be anyway, what the heck were a pro boxer and an accountant in training doing at a high school dance?