Dance with Me

Attended a premiere of the film yesterday without knowing anything about it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Along the lines of similar films regarding inner city schools and the use of fine arts to motivate students, this film chooses dance as its educational medium. It provides a realistic examination of true life in the New York public school system, and of New York City in general...no "Sex and the City" or "Friends" glamor here. I applaud this film for its casting of Antonio Banderas as the teacher who really cares for his student's lives in a world of despair. He does a great job conveying the inner struggle of a person who yearns to offer their help despite limited resources and support. Meanwhile, the students that make up his class are relative unknowns, but all are fantastic dancers with acting skills to match.

Even if you are not a fan of either Hip Hop/Rap or Ballroom/Jazz/Ballroom styles of music and dance, this film will have your foot tapping and imagination wandering..."maybe after some lessons, I could dance like that". Both worlds are depicted with accuracy and realism, allowing followers of either genre to spy on the other.

For parents looking for the suitability of this film for their children, I would say the minimum age should be 13-ish. Other than the odd curse word or gun play, there is not much else to worry about. The benefits and moral lessons taught by this movie far outweigh the negative aspects.

If you've ever secretly wanted to join a dance class, this film will (hopefully) push you past your fears and have you dancing in no time.

In New York, the polite dance instructor Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) sees a black teenager vandalizing the car of the director of a public school and on the next day he volunteers to teach dance to students to give respect, dignity, self-confidence, trust and teamwork. The reluctant director Augustine James (Alfre Woodard) offers the troublemakers that are in detention expecting Pierre to give-up of his intentions. Pierre struggles against the prejudice and ignorance of the students, parents and other teachers, but wins his battle when the group accepts to compete in a ballroom dance contest.

Movies of dance are usually attractive, and the entertaining "Take the Lead" is no exception. However, this feature is more important because it is based on a true story of a man that has decided to make a difference, helping poor students to see life with another perspective. Antonio Banderas shows again that he is a "complete" actor, capable of performing the most different roles. The real Pierre Dulaine deserves this homage for the importance of his gesture and action. Jenna Dewan, from "Step-up" and the sexy Katya Virshilas are stunning dancers and the actors and actresses present wonderful choreographic dances. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vem Dançar" ("Come to Dance")

This is a feel-good movie. You will enjoy it, laugh, maybe even cry, despite being able to predict what is going to happen. Banderas does a nice, understated job and the actors portraying the urban kids are outstanding. I didn't like some of the camera angles and chafed at the dance shots often being too close up to really see what the moves were, but the choices in filming undeniably added to both the realism and the energy of the scenes.

Altho based on a true story, one has to wonder how much was added for dramatic effect. Some of the relationships/developments seem just too trite and stereotyped -- and yet the portrayals are enjoyable enough that ultimately you don't care. After the number of times audience members laughed or exclaimed over scenes or lines in the movie, I was surprised that they didn't clap at the end -- it's that kind of movie. It reminded me of both Strictly Ballroom and Stand and Deliver. You won't be sorry you've seen it.

Are there any late 90s SNL fans out there who get the reference in my title? Chris Kattan once did a hilariously bad parody of Antonio Banderas, the idea being that Antionio is so sexy ("tooo sexy! tooo sexy! No, the bambinos!") that he can basically fondle the camera and be a hit. This film, featuring Antonio as a swave, kind-hearted, chivalrous dance instructor with impeccable taste in clothes, is the real life version of that skit. I watched this with my girlfriend, and she kept looking over to ask me if I was still heterosexual.

So yeah, tons of eye candy for fans of Antonio. Dim the lights, strap on your dancing shoes, or whatever else you care to strap on (I don't even know what that means) and enjoy the film.

The movie itself is an entertaining blend of gritty realism, fantasy dance, cute comedy and every highschool-misfits-enter-a-competition movie ever made. Much of it is predictable, but it packs enough pirouettes to surprise the audience once in a while. Included in this mostly-tame story are bits of crime, violence, domestic abuse and attempted rape which are convincingly done, due to the excellent acting by these mostly-unknown young actors.

If you don't know, "Take the Lead" is based on the true story of Pierre Dulaine, a dance instructor who decided to take on some of the roughest schools in NYC by teaching ballroom. Much of the film is dramatized, several bits are outright manufactured, but it more or less stays true to the spirit of Pierre's work. I wish it had expounded more on the philosophy behind the method (which is beautifully explained in Antonio's monologue to the angry parents), but we still get the gist.

I've read a few reviews and message board comments from people who were infuriated by the ending spectacle, and all I can say is yeah they have a point, but hey this is a movie folks. It's supposed to have some pizazz. I suppose it's the extreme blending of realism and dancing that causes the conflict. If you can go with the flow, I think you'll find it to be a fun and worthwhile flick.

If you like this sort of story (highschool-misfits-enter-a-competition), I highly recommend the Japanese flick "Swing Girls" about a bunch of nerds trying to learn jazz. On the wacky side is "Kickin It Old Skool" about a bunch of middle aged nerds who never left the 80s trying to win a dance contest. There's a million of em but they never get old, do they? "Take the Lead" is more on the serious side than the others, but hey... it has Antonio Banderas. How do you say... Ahhh yesss.

This movie is "inspired by" the story of Pierre Dulaine, who started a ballroom dance school program in New York. But "inspired by" seems to equal "use a real person's name," because this movie feels utterly false in every detail, from its "cute meet" with a thuggish (but good-hearted) student through its two cardboard bad guys to a final ridiculous finale that pushed absurdly unrealistic to new heights. It felt so unlikely, and I remembered that Mad Hot Ballroom, about that same dance program, had featured younger kids, so I googled around and found an excellent review on some website called Townhall by Megan Basham that pretty much said everything I felt, and also pointed out that in fact the program was created not by one person but by two and did in fact start in two schools with younger kids of various backgrounds.

But what is probably a very interesting story is tossed out in favor of a very shallow Hollywoodization.

This is not to say the movie isn't watchable. The cast is engaging and there are some nice dance numbers in it, and of course Hollywood clichés can have a certain manipulative power. But the problem is, every new ridiculous event in the movie pushed me further from enjoyment and towards irritation.

When people complain about Hollywood movies, this is exactly what they're complaining about.