There are better Romeo & Juliet knock-offs. The spectacle of prancing gangbangers is simultaneously hilarious and, as the kids like to say, "cringeworthy." The film feels like a bunch of young Hollywood actors dancing around a Burbank set, not a bunch of punks on the West Side of Mahattan. As with most musicals, the lyrics are literal, cheesy, and weak. There's a sample below. I'll grant you "America," which is a perfectly good song. The acting did not age well. It must be said: Natalie Wood was a weak actress. Pretty, but weak. Watch her in Rebel Without a Cause, too. It's almost painful to watch her try and hold the screen with James Dean and Sal Mineo. She just wasn't that good. Rita Moreno has always been great, though. But to top it off, the movie is freakin' two and a half hours long. Answer honestly: could you sit through it now without taking a break, falling asleep, or losing yourself in your phone? Truthfully.
On a sidenote, George Chakiris is genuinely freaky. According to Wikipedia, he is 87, and this is what plastic surgeries have him looking like as he nears his tenth decade alive.
When you're a Jet,
You're a Jet all the way
From your first cigarette
To your last dyin' day.
When you're a Jet,
If the spit hits the fan,
You got brothers around,
You're a family man.
You're never alone,
You're never disconnected.
You're home with your own—
When company's expected,
You're well protected!
Then you are set
With a capital J,
Which you'll never forget
Till they cart you away.
When you're a Jet,
You stay
A Jet!
Here's another:
MARIA
Only you, you're the only thing I'll see, forever.
In my eyes, in my words and in everything I do,
Nothing else but you,
Ever!
TONY
And there's nothing for me but Maria,
Every sight that I see is Maria.