If I had to summarize Karen Maine’s Rosaline in one word, it would be “safe.” This contemporary spoof on the plot of Romeo and Juliet follows Romeo’s (Kyle Allen) ex-girlfriend, the titular Rosaline (played by Kaitlyn Dever), as she attempts to win him back from her cousin, Juliet.
Rosaline is characterized as a well-read, outspoken, and charismatic woman trapped in the ancient Verona of Shakespeare’s play. She spends her time contemplating her relationship with Romeo, sneaking out to taverns, and dreaming of becoming a cartographer. Her character is very much one we have seen before, akin to Arya Stark from Game of Thrones or Ella from Ella Enchanted. She actively speaks out against the society of Verona, often judging and dismissing its oppressive or limiting elements.
A lot of the film’s humor comes from these judgements poking fun at Shakespearean plays. The opening scene involves Rosaline interrupting Romeo’s Shakespearean prose in modern American English. In another sequence Rosaline feigns a form of insanity to avoid being betrothed to a creepy old man. It seems to empathize with teenagers who got frustrated reading old English in their high school classes, but while it certainly is an enjoyable factor early on, it is far from enough to sustain the film for its 96-minute runtime.
Outside of its referential humor and commentary on many elements of its original inspiration, there is not a lot to look for within Rosaline. The movie tells a simple and uncomplicated story: Rosaline must learn to find love outside of Romeo who loves someone else. Along the way, there are certainly hijinks and shenanigans. But there was nothing that truly spoke to me, nothing that kept this movie in my thoughts after the credits rolled. It’s a fun watch for a sleepy Friday evening, not much else.