A Última Dança

Patrick Swayze can be compared to the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly--he can dance AND act! Many of us who are Patrick,Lisa, and George's "chronological" peers love them for their unbelievable dance ability; but we may hate them for being in such great shape!

How refreshing to see a movie about dance that showed splendid dancing-and lots of it. I'm so tired of movies that just "touch" on dance and delve into the sob-story, high hormonal problems of teen dancers. One of the things I appreciated about this movie was that it was sensual but not sexual. Really, everything is NOT about sex.

My ONLY gripe is some of the language-I'd like to show this movie to some young people who are just starting to dance, because of the focus on FEELING the dance.

I'll wager that many young dancers that show up on unnamed TV shows couldn't keep up with Patrick, Lisa, and George AND do it with the grace and style that the three of them exhibited. Give us more please!

"One Last Dance" is another one of those movies whose bad word of mouth will puzzle a lot of viewers. While the major subplot has been done a hundred times before (frequently better), the music and dance are superb. Further, while Lisa Niemi (Mrs. Patrick Swayze) is a pretty inept actress, her camera setups superbly capture the dance. Besides, "One Last Dance" boasts one superb performance, that of George De La Pena ("Max"). With this movie, Lisa Niemi, for better or worse, clearly establishes herself as both the brains and drive behind Patrick Swayze.

Hopefully, "One Last Dance" will usher in a whole series of dance films, both comedies and dramas; and one could certainly do much worse than the dance team of Swayze and Niemi.

I give "One Last Dance" a "7".

When the successful artistic director Alex McGrath (Matthew Walker) dies, his New York dance company invites three veteran dancers, Travis MacPhearson (Patrick Swaize), Chrissa Lindh (Lisa Niemi) and Max Delano (George De La Pena), to exhibit a never performed dance piece called "Without a Word" as a last homage in a benefit show. Along the troubled trio reunion, secrets are disclosed, deep wounds are healed, culminating with their last dance together.

"One Last Dance" is certainly a very personal work of Patrick Swaize and mostly of his wife Lisa Niemi, who are producers, writer, director and lead actor and actress. The choreography is very beautiful, with a great music score including two Brazilian songs. Lisa Niemi and Patrick Swaize show that they are in good shape as dancers. Unfortunately, the screenplay is weak, with a sort of soap-opera drama and Lisa Niemi performs a confused character, never clear of her feelings and intentions. If she had a serious situation with Alex, why does she need to dance again? Travis returned for Chrissa, and Max because he is completely broken. Further, the tearful character Chrissa Lindh is boring in some moments with her insecurity. But the dances make this movie a worthwhile entertainment for those who like this art. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Última Dança" ("The Last Dance")

It's a pity!

That this movie has come and gone without any fan fare.

It is a beautiful dance movie with wonderful haunting music and moves.

The acting is sometimes kind of hammy and out of place. You can tell that the leading lady is a very gentle lady and that yelling screaming are not her style. The scenes where she is overly emotional are false.

It is such a treat for the over the hill gang to see the Masters dance with such wild abandon.

Overall, it is a dance movie and it honors the mature dancers.

It is both flawed and wonderful.

I will recommend it to family and friends. Rent it and watch it!

The movie is delicate and the choreography's are amazing. It might not be perfect but many people vote it without any dance knowledge.

I loved to see that she used Brazilian music, which is great. Also the courage of Lisa Niemi to produce this movie with a very low budget deserves a lot of credit. Fortunately I could find it here in Brazil and appreciate it. I hope it gets everywhere so people that loves dance can see a very nice movie that goes a little bit different from the many clichés of struggle beginners.

The scene where they are warm up and the fog starts, really gives us the impression that the entire room is boiling.

It is a pity that we cannot see the complete choreography of Without a Word. That was the only promise that the movie did not accomplished.