Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

This was basically a stage play that appeared to be filmed. It made one feel as though they were sitting in a theater, watching a live performance rather than looking at a film. The story is very predictable, the acting, very theatrical. Just seemed a lazy way to tell the story i.e filming a play!

Awful due to the bad and overacting of Cheyenne Jackson. A grown up going around placing judgment on others for his imaginary oppression, aggressive, toxic and irrational. Who behaves like this? Don't know how close this is to the play but this script is just terrible. Cant see what Gena Rowlands saw in him to reactivate a relationship with someone that toxic. Cheat interiors, face scenery, low budget look. The underrated and now frail Gena Rowlands deserves better. For a story that's around dance lessons, no dancing actually happened between the main characters. Couldt they find more appropriate actors?

Gena Rowlands plays a 75-year-old widow (pretending to be 68) who lives in a retirement high-rise in Florida. She signs up for in-home dance lessons and meets a brash, foul-mouthed young man (Cheyenne Jackson) who is so obnoxious, she sends him packing. When she goes to the dance studio to complain, she meets him again and decides to give him another chance.

What develops is an on-and-off friendship between the lonely woman and the equally lonely young man. We see them in various costumes for the six dance lessons she has signed up for. The downstairs neighbor (Rita Moreno) complains about the noise. Eventually they settle into a warm and caring friendship as they open up about their lives and disappointments. They don't win a dance contest, which is probably what the viewer expects.

The story is about loneliness and friendship and taking just one more chance. Co-stars include Julian Sands, Jacki Weaver, Anthony Zerbe, and Kathleen Rose Perkins.

Despite the extremely static and phony backdrops (only a few exterior shots were done on location) this studio-bound play (Polly Bergen and Mark Hamill starred on Broadway) finally hits its target in the last third of the film. Long before the closing scenes played against the phony Florida sunset, we've already guessed the ultimate secrets of both main characters. But it doesn't matter.

Gena Rowlands, a 2-time Oscar nominee who made her film debut in 1958, gets one (probably) last starring role and sinks her teeth into it. But the character is a little too shallow. Jackson tries, but his phony charm is too phony. Worth a look.

There is only one problem that I can see with this film. It's really a play, not a movie. The scenery does not change often, there are few characters, and, like theater, it requires the audience to listen and think and stay with it to the end in order to appreciate the experience.

That said, look at the actors: Cheyenne Jackson (who plays a gay man from the New York stage world better than a gay man from the New York stage world?) and Gena Rowlands (if you have seen her act, you want to see more and more of her performances.)

'Is that Rita Moreno?' I asked myself at one point. Yep. At home on the stage as well as in the movies, she adds to the general mood of this multi-act play. Theatrical - and entertaining.

Cheyenne and Gena can be proud of their work in this movie. Yes, it's a little bit too progressive-liberal-politically-hip with some messages, which can make the viewer feel manipulated at times. This has nothing to do with stereotypes. It has to do with feeling in the line of fire of those messages being volleyed at that audience.

What is touching, and ultimately so lovely about the plot, the play, and the people is that the drama turns out to bring family feelings to the front and center. I found myself not disliking the Reverend (that shadowy figure who, if anything, is treated like a stereotype). I found myself not disliking any of the characters even though there is tragedy circling the story. It felt uplifting at the end to see the sunset and know that people dance sometimes not for the sexual feelings of body contact, but for sheer love of closeness that we all need.

I'd recommend this movie for anyone who wants to see a play. Theater lives! Acting!

Love this movie. Humor. Working in learning ballroom is super. I've ballroom danced for 45 years, it is a wonderful story of loneliness, humor, learning to enjoy life after grieving, being among groups of new people and going out to elegant dinner/dance events with beautiful live orchestras (as the Annual Avalon Ball by the LA Art Deco Society at the Catalina Island Casino each year), and three other clubs that put up similar tux/cocktail dresses fine dining multiple times a year, learning to live fully. Funny argumentative neighbors. Beautiful live music, inspiring. I see it multiple times over the years. Just ducky!