Dance, Dance, Dance!

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2015)

Normally, I try to stay away from movies that are just about dancing. The one exception for this moment is this film, Save the Last Dance. The movie is more than just dancing, it is a human story that explores themes such as passion, family tragedy, and interracial love. I found the latter part interesting because it is relatively uncommon to see in movies and I thought that part in the movie worked very well. As for the dancing, it's not too bad and the choreography is halfway decent.
Thomas Carter's film is about a girl named Sara who dreams to be a ballerina are shattered when an unfortunate family tragedy occurs and she is forced to move to the other side of town, where the town is predominantly black. Sara is able to befriend Chenille, whom in turn introduces her to her brother, Derek. Together, Sara and Derek work together to help Sara train for a dance audition for Jubilee.
The acting was not too bad. Julia Stiles handled the dramatic part effectively, although I'm not sure if she makes for a talented dancer, especially in hip-hop dance. Sean Patrick Thomas does a solid job as Derek and I really liked Kerry Washington in her role as Chenille.
Overall, Save the Last Dance is nowhere close to a great movie, but it does have some entertaining moments. In particular, the dance moments are quite effective, although not perfect. The drama was handled well and I quite liked the beginning of the film the best, although the narrative seems to stumble midway. This is not a bad film though.
My Grade: B-