Tap - A Dança de Duas Vidas

If you like tap dancing, this is one of the rare opportunities to see tap legends like Jimmy Slyde, Sandman Sims, Henry LeTang, and Harold Nicholas along with latter-day tap wizards Gergory Hines and Savion Glover and icon Sammy Davis, Jr. Dianne "Lady Di" Walker even has a cameo appearance.

This movie is glued together with a questionable plot and some illogical excuses to tap dance. But who cares? Once these folks are dancing, nothing else matters.

P.S. Look (and listen) for the incomparable Etta James singing in the club scene.

This is a fine performance by Gregory Hines as a extremely talented tap dancer who also uses his flexibility and physical agility to be a cat burglar and comes to a crossroad in his life. Sammy Davis Jr. is also very good as an elder hoofer(tap dancer) who is trying to convince him to do the right thing.

While the story isn't up to par, as many have said, it's really just a sort of excuse to allow these great, great dancers to get up and do their thing on screen. And, let's be honest. You've got a lot of just awesome talent up there. Jimmy Slyde, Sammy Davis Jr., Sandman Sims, Steve Condos (very little of him, however), Gregory Hines, Diana Ross, Gregory Hines, and in his very first film role, Savion Glover.

It's so strange to see him as a kid, now, though. I'm used to seeing the thirty-some odd year old with the long dreads and scraggly beard, not the kid with short hair and nary a whisker 'bout his face. But, even at this stage, he's just awesome.

I'll admit, I've stolen a couple of steps from the people up there in this movie, from time to time. I know I don't do them half as well as they do, but I don't have as much experience as they do.

I keep thinking that they're going to remake this movie one day with Glover in the Hines' role. That'd be just awesome. But then, almost all the other hoofers in the film like Sims and Slyde, are much to old to be doing film roles any more. That's not meant to be an insult, but they're in their eighties, at least.

All in all, a good film. Hines, you will be missed.

First there is great dance. This has a good collection of virtuoso tap dance scenes. I am not an expert on tap; these are good dancers. A cameo by Sammy Davis Jr. Secondly, the love scene really moved me. It is understated, yet it brought me back to my younger days. Overall, the film has a simple and solid story. There is a child whose role enhances the adult story. The "gangster" parts may seem weak--this is not "Goodfellas". But they do the job to balance out the sentimental stuff. The water dripping...perhaps it is not quite a metaphor. But it is the foundation for a rhythm, a rhythm that ties the sordid part of the protagonists life (prison) with an opportunity to break free from the underworld. Gregory Hines plays the role of a man who needs to decide what he really wants. He has an idea for a creative venture. He can have the meaningful relationship that has eluded him. That would be with the redoubtable woman admirably played by Suzzanne Douglass. Always there is the pull of his past criminal ties. I really identified with all of the characters in this charming film.

You sometimes come across a film that is made more for a gimmick rather than telling a very interesting story; Tap is one of them. That's not to say that this movie is a flat out dud, it's just that the story doesn't really hold a candle to the tap dancing shown here. Starring the late Gregory Hines, the film revolves around a talented tap dancer named Max Washington (Hines), who must decide between embracing dancing at a new dance production from his girlfriend Amy (Suzanne Douglass) or becoming a criminal again with his old criminal buddy, Nicky (Joe Morton). From a premise like that, the movie becomes rather predictable from its outcome alone, and each beat becomes more obvious after another.

So what elevates the film up to being above average? Well, mainly the dancing, as many of the characters in the movie display a versatile amount of dance moves that one could only wish to be good at. The dancers range from the likes of Sammy Davis jr., Jimmy Slyde, Howard Sims, Bunny Briggs, Dick Anthony Williams, and even a young Savion Glover. It's hilarious watching Max getting involved with the old curmudgeons in games of dancing, and the choreography definitely deserves much recognition. One particular scene of Max demonstrating his moves to a crowd of people outside the dance production practically turns into a scene from a Broadway musical it's so much fun to watch.

Even at that, the most likable characters in the film are Amy and Little Mo (Davis jr.), as they cause much conflict with Max when it comes to deciding where he belongs as well as trying to get his act back together. Everyone else, while not despicable, are either just there or just give Max more problems, yet they're not as interesting as they could be and they just come off as a forgettable supporting cast. That being said, in spite of a majority of weak characters and a lackluster plot, they're not what this movie is all about at the end of the day. This is mainly made to be a fun little dance flick with Gregory Hines busting moves, and it does succeed in that aspect. If you're a Hines fan or you're just into dancing as a whole, definitely give this a watch; just don't expect a story with much substance or intrigue.