SAVE THE LAST DANCE -- Thomas Carter, dir

©2001
studio: Paramount
production company: Cort/Madden Productions, MTV Films
dir: Thomas Carter
cast: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington, Fredro Starr, Terry Kinney, Bianca Lawson, Vince Green, Garland Whitt, Elisabeth Oas, Artel Kayaru
screenplay: Duane Adler

A young girl moves in with her estranged father after the sudden death of her mother. Living in the ghetto area of Chicago, she abandons her ballet hopes.

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This was a surprisingly good movie. Like the great teen movies of John Hughes in the 80's, this holds all the charm and magic of good kids surviving, nicely, through their adolescence.

I really wasn't expecting too much, but thought perhaps I'd see some good dancing. I did see some fair dancing (nothing too great), but came away touched by a good story.

What made this work, was the chemistry between the leads (Stiles and Thomas). We liked them both and wanted to see them together as much as they seemed to want to be together.

Stiles showed great stoic strength as she jumped feet first into her new life, and I did wonder at how nothing seemed to phase her, she did let it out to her new "boyfriend" in a "sob" scene.

The sub-plot of Thomas' character, a smart, college-bound student who plans to be a doctor, struggling with his past which included a life of crime (peripherally), was hackneyed. It was so sterotypical, and I never did believe he had any real struggle as to which way to go (hang with his bad-ass homey and go on a drive-by shooting spree or help the good-looking girl with her dance audition). I understand that the sub-plot was moderately important to set up their different pasts and what an inner-city child has to struggle with, but this kid was good through and through and it was a stretch to buy into this past.

The relationship between the daughter and father was wonderful. Here was obviously a dad that loved his child (if there is any question, what he does for here in the end really shows it) but has had little to no contact with her and really is at a loss as to how to be a "dad." Like her, he is sudddenly thrust into a completely new situation and struggles to adapt (though we don't see this much, Terry Kinney [as the father] does a fantastic job with what little he has to work with).

A nice movie, appropriate for older teens.