movie's 411

>> SHALL WE DANCE? (2004)

Starring: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Lopez, and more ...
Director: Peter Chelsom
Genre: Comedy




john clark (richard gere) has all he could ever ask for, including a successful career and a loving wife (susan sarandon) and family. even so, he can't find true happiness and always searching for his passion in life other than his family. during his trip home after work, he always fascinated by the big sign of miss mitzi's school dance and becomes intrigued by stunning dance teacher paulilna (jennifer lopez) who always stand near the big window with her sad aura expressed on her beautiful face. drawn by her allure, john heads to the studio and signs up for lessons. as john's friendship with paulina grows, so does his love for dance, renewing his lease on life.

this movie is based on the 1995 japanese film with the same title, of course, less the beautiful and famous faces on the screen. though i have seen the original version a couple of times, i was still excited to see the hollywood version. i remember that the original version gave me a warm feeling inside to see the middle-aged guy is finding his true passion in life. he becomes excited and happier.. not that he was never happy before, but it charges him back to his daily routine life that he had accustomed to for a long time. the hollywood version, nonetheless, gave the same feeling. gere, of course, shows his dancing skills once more. if i haven't been awed by the way he tap danced in "chicago", i would have a big doubts before watching the movie. i mean, yes.. he's a good looking middle-aged guy. he's still handsome, and plays romantic movies perfectly, but dancing? hmmm.. but you gotta admit, his tapdancing was awesome in "chicago" and he's done it again in this movie.

gere's chemistry with sarandon was just perfect, showing us that these two people are in the league of their own. although i thought seeing j-lo on big screen is a big blah (especially having to see her everywhere last year .. in infotainment, her personal life, her video clips, and so on), it was kinda refreshing to see her in this movie. and of course, it's a movie about dancing.. and there's no doubt that's her world. but other than that... her existence is perfectly measured, not too much, but enough to show that she was there.

the one thing that i love most about this movie is not actually about the story, since i know it's not original. it's not even the characters or the beautiful and famous faces on screen. what draw me to the movie is its soundtrack. i bought the soundtrack waaayy before i saw the movie. it has jamie cullum, mya, and my favorite of them all .. the song "sway" by the pussycat dolls. i love the video clips and the song is just nice to hear in a different way but still sounds good.

though i thought the movie is okay.. i'd still suggest to see it, especially if you haven't seen the original version. it's the month of love, why not go see it with your loved ones (i mean like your parents... gitu loh! heheheh.. )

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>> rated by :: sLesTa | [ ]

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