Take The Lead

Okay, for the past few days (barring my quick dabble in life sciences), I've done my best to spotlight what some might some consider some high points in female characterization in video games, and what some might consider some low points in female characterization in video games.

And I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people who would tell me I did an absolutely terrible job at the first bit, and people who don't get it that would say I did a miserable job at the second.

So we're going away from video games completely today, and looking at one of my guilty pleasure movies: Take The Lead.

 

People who know me might know that I enjoy ballroom dancing.  I watch Dancing With the Stars, I took a ballroom dancing class, and I enjoy moves involving dancing.  Whether it's a "newer" film like Save The Last Dance, Step Up (though I only watched the first one), or Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School, or perhaps a more "classic" film like anything from the works of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, or Gene Kelly, I'll happily give it a shot, and I'm almost never disappointed.

So when I heard that Antonio Banderas, who I had just seen in a Zorro movie alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones (mrow- sorry, leftover from yesterday) was going to be in a movie about dancing?  I had my doubts.  He was athletic, sure, and suave, but honestly, I wanted to see the movie for two reasons.  One of them is pretty prominent in that picture up above.  Here's a hint: blond hair.

No, I didn't know who the actress was, and I still don't know who the actress is (though a quick Google search tells me she does a lot of choreographing dances for reality shows).  There was one other reason I was eager to watch this movie:

Jenna Dewan

Yeah, I admit it, I had a pretty serious crush on her for quite a while.  It's faded a lot in recent years since, y'know, she married Channing Tatum (who I could only ever remember the name of because I would combine the names "Carol Channing Tatum O'Neal") and is in the midst of having a baby...though from what I've seen she's still gorgeous.

She also gets one of the prominent dance scenes in this movie (which also involves Rufio from Hook, trivia factoid fans).  However, there is one small problem to the movie, and that's the sheer number of plot threads we have to follow.  Let me break it down.

First, we have the "based on a true story" bit about Antonio Banderas' character hoping to introduce dance to high schools as a means for students to learn control, trust, and better behavior.  He's opposed (well, not so much opposed as disbelieved) by Alfre Woodard playing the school principal.  Second, we have a relationship between a young man named "Rock" and a young woman named LaRhette, only her brother was a drug dealer who gave drugs to Rock's brother, who then O.D.ed!  Oh no!  We have a love triangle between two young men (Ru-fi-o! Ru-fi-o!) and Jenna Dewan.  We have an upper class white girl hanging out with the "bad kids" at the school to learn to dance for her upcoming cotillion, and her growing relationship with an overweight boy from the school.  We have other growing relationships between other students, a story about Rock trying to decide if he wants to be a gang member or a respectable person, and, of course, we have a huge dance competition to prepare for!

Obviously, some of the stories get rushed through (one self-described "playa's" relationship with a heavier girl pretty much just goes "meet, hate, dance, love"), but others are given a real long time in the spotlight.  The issue of whether dancing should be taught at schools is resolved quickly in a pretty dramatic scene, and most of the conflicts between students gets wrapped up in a neat little package at the end.

So, why do I like it?  Well, there's a song that plays right during the opening of the movie, which is a remix of Lena Horne's I Got Rhythm featuring a rapper I never heard of named Q-Tip.  It summarizes my opinion pretty well, since it represents the mixture between classical styles and modern styles, and how they can be blended.  There's a grace and style which has become classic for a reason, but a rhythm and freedom from modern dance techniques that can be just as fascinating.

Most of the cast is great in their roles.  Antonio Banderas is superb as the gentlemanly dance teacher who rides around New York City on a bicycle while wearing fancy suits.  He speaks properly and is polite, and seems to inspire people to want to be better just by being in the room.  The effect he has on a group of delinquent students takes time, but when they come around, you feel there's a real desire to be better than what their situations in life have made them.

I often witness things that I don't remember seeing or hearing when I was younger: swearing in public, repeated uses of terms and language in places they might not be appropriate, attitude given over the tiniest of slights...I don't hate profanity.  I don't use it often myself when I'm around other people, but find me back when I was playing really difficult video games, and you'd probably find me swearing like I was trying to show up a South Park episode.


Alfre Woodard is, of course, great in her role.  Jenna Dewan mixes just the right amount of street toughness with femininity so that, when she puts on a dress and dances in the competition, it's believable.  Rock and LaRhette's actors have a believable chemistry and tension, and it's one where the barriers between them are only really broken down out of a sense of necessity. 

If I had anything else to complain about, it's that after watching other movies and shows about just how skilled ballroom dancers are, it's that the performances by the street kids are good, but they really aren't up to that same standard, and I would think that entering them in such a competition when (perhaps) a few months of training doesn't really compare to doing it since you were eight and spending every waking moment doing it in strict training rituals.

I enjoy it anyway, though, and recommend it to anybody else who gets even the slightest enjoyment out of seeing people move around the floor gracefully to music.