really enjoyed it, but was at times confused...

all I have to say is thank you!! You have cleared up A LOT of things for me. There is so little dialogue that is not taken from Shakespeare it is difficult to get a feeling for what is actually happening. I think the film could have benefited from more original dialogue that set the intended storyline and characters a little better, because we are left to do a lot of interpreting. But you have cleared up a lot of stuff which I couldn't understand.

Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much.

I agree with you that there is plenty to be confused about. In my mind, what the filmmakers did was a compromise between retaining Shakespeare's amazing text and understanding that it was not going to make sense in the context of the plot (boys falling in love in a military academy). In my view that is why they adopted the device (if you can all it that) of having the boys (all of them that miss out on the trip - how convenient) reading through Shakespeare's play, presumably in English class or as part of a planned stage production. One would expect that, in a military academy, they would more likely stage a play like Julius Caesar, which thematically fits better and the cast is almost entirely male, but let's not let that bother us.

What I think the filmmaker was going for was that these young men were reading through R&J just as Sam & Glenn were falling for each other. Perhaps the experience of reading the play inspired them or perhaps the play allowed them to express feelings that they had but didn't know how to deal with or express. I don't know. But this would explain why the dialogue does not match the plot, they act out their own love drama, with it as inspiration. Perhaps they should have opted for the Shakespeare in Love approach, where, while Shakespeare was writing the play and preparing the first production, his life mirrored the plot of the play. I think perhaps the filmmakers just wanted to retain Shakespeare's amazing poetry, and I can understand why. I have to admit that I have seen many versions of this play (mostly in film) and have read it myself, but until I saw this version, the love scenes never had the enthralling intense impact this version had for me. I suppose that, as a gay man, I cannot absolutely identify with a man and a woman falling in love, but when I watched two men deliver these immortal lines, it absolutely blew me away. So despite the awkwardness and confusion it caused, I was more than happy that the filmmakers retained the original text.

A further point. Shakespeare's plays are adapted to modern times and to so many different contexts, that this adaptation does not surprise me. R&J is perhaps the greatest love story in history, so it is not surprising that someone might wish to make a gay version of it. The main problem though, is that they would have to change the plot significantly. Certainly men have fallen in love throughout history, but even in bawdy Elizabethan times, that would not have been accepted by the families, much less their getting married. The plot would get significantly distorted by the families' shock and revulsion at their sons falling in love. I suppose you could do a completely contemporary version, where gay relationships and even same-sex marriage is accepted, but even then the plot would change significantly.

I remember once taking part in a discussion on internet regarding whether it would work to have a gay version of Guess Who is Coming to Dinner. My reaction was that it would change the story and dilemma completely. Rather than the parents being confronted with their child, against their expectations, becoming engaged to someone from another race, they would be confronted with the revelation of their child's sexuality, which would lead the plot in different directions.