Released Date: 20 January 2005

Synopsis (Courtesy from BVI):

Chicago lawyer John Clark (RICHARD GERE) knows his life is almost perfect. He loves his beautiful wife (SUSAN SARANDON), he’s built a successful career and raised two wonderful kids. And yet . . . the workday is always the same routine, the commute is a grind and the family’s usually too busy to spend time together. Sometimes John wonders if this is all there is, until one evening on his way home from work he gets off his train and does the unthinkable. Without telling a soul, he secretly begins taking dance lessons. Suddenly, John is thrust into a whole new world – of motion, music, camaraderie and passion. As this very serious man becomes literally light on his feet, his whole life, and marriage, transforms.

Movie Review:

Masayuki Suo’s wonderful 1996 fable “Shall We Dance?” won the hearts of audiences and critics alike from all over the world but like so many movies from outside the United States, it is a film distinctly characteristic of its parent country. It is the story of a working class Japanese man overcome by the feeling something is missing in his life and whom takes up dancing to fill the void, discovering something wonderful and emotionally expressionistic about himself in the process.

Director Peter Chelsom and writer Audrey Wells tries anyhow to re-imagining “Shall We Dance?” for an American audience yet still managing to retain the original’s effervescent love affair with the world of dance. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t come close to the sublime perfection of Suo’s film but there is still much charm to this new version.

Successful Chicago attorney John Clark (Richard Gere) is a loving father of two married to an equally successful businesswoman Beverly (Susan Sarandon). But something is missing in his life, the workday becoming a tired routine stale pattern of habit. And while John wouldn’t change his family, he still can’t shake the feeling of despair; wondering if this is all there is to life. Upon chancing a distant lone figure at the windows of Mitzi’s Dance Studio, John can’t help but wonder what it is that keeps drawing her gaze. And so he does the unthinkable, leaping off the train and into the studio discovering a world he never even knew existed. Not sure why he’s really there, the attorney starts taking beginner lessons with Miss Mitzi (Anita Gilette) herself, joining two other students to explore all the possibilities Ballroom Dance has to offer. Suddenly, John begins to find enjoyment in the subtle movements of the dance and it quickly becomes a means of joy.

Follows along as you know it, spouse’s suspicion arise. Secrecy. Conflicting decisions. Emotion revelation. Romance. Yada. Yada. Yada.

“Shall We Dance?” is utterly agreeable on many levels. Sure, it’s really nothing more than an elongated sitcom, but even then it’s an entertaining one. Main lead, Richard Gere is as charming as always with his ever splendor of gentlemanly style. Susan Sarandon, although ever luminous in her age and pleasantly cast, feels awkward as a whole and seems distant from the role. What can I say about Jennifer? Although much an eye candy for the roving eye, her performance didn’t really breakthrough, lacking in depth and heart.

The rest of the cast is almost equal to the task, but I have to admit, it’s the supporting cast that steals the show. Television veteran Lisa Ann Walter almost walks away with the picture portraying a haggard single mother painstakingly trying to become a dancer while keeping her sharp acid wits intact. Best of all is the great Stanley Tucci, throwing himself headlong in the role of a co-worker of Clark’s whose love for ballroom dancing throws him into one of the most absurdly surrealistic masquerades imaginable.

Still, Wells' script is far from perfect. The moments with Sarandon’s co-workers are tiresome and missing are the unspoken connection between student and teacher which passed so elegantly in the original, a love affair not so much of the body but of the spirit that reawakened the thirst for life’s pleasures in both. In Gere, I bought this transformation but with Lopez it never materializes. Sure, Lopez is lovely to look at and she glides across a dance floor second to none ( even stirs an urge to sign up for dance lessons myself.. ), but this isn’t remotely her best work.

Director Chelsom does what he can, however, and much of “Shall We Dance?” works far better than I ever could have imagined. While he does rush the final and includes a workplace surprise far too familiar of “Pretty Woman,” at least, the one thing Chelsom get explicitly right is the allure of the intoxicating dance, making “Shall We Dance?” a pleasant film, gliding across the screen like a splendorous waltz.

Movie Rating: C+

Review by Lokman B.S.