All dance films seem to follow the exact same formula, but this one stands out as one of the best

Rating: 6/10 (4 October 2008)

I think the title pretty much sums up what I'm going to say in this review. I finally got around to watching 'Save the Last Dance', becoming quite tired of the 'How can you not have seen 'Save the Last Dance', it's the best dance film out there!' comments each time the film came up in conversation. And yes, I enjoyed it, it was a good, entertaining film, but it definitely was not one of the greatest things ever created and I don't think it deserves quite as much hype as it receives.
The story line has become a cliché by now, girl and boy become romantically involved against a backdrop of dancing. I think that this was one of the first dance films of it's kind though, and you can almost feel that throughout the movie - it feels fresh and original, not like a carbon copy of an already done and dusted formula (such as 'How She Move' felt). Also, I think it's important to mention how influential this film was in encouraging more dance films to be made, some of them rather good too, like Step Up 1 + 2, Take the Lead, etc. However, by now the formula wears thin, and has been done too many times, so even whilst this film was one of the first in it's genre, a viewer watching this for the first time these days already knows what will happen at the end less than 10 minutes into the film, and that's definitely a let down (though, it's hardly a fault that the movie could have prevented, without foresight).
The dancing is not the greatest I have ever seen in this genre of film, that would have to go, hands down, to the street-dancing in Step Up 2 (and I do believe that the ballet in Step Up 1 probably deserves second place) but it is good enough for the film, and definitely not the worse I have seen. In fact, Sara's final dance may be one of my favourite routines ever seen on film. I was very surprised to discover Julia Stiles was such a capable, and very skilled ballet dancer - her dancing impressed me far more than her acting in this film (which, although wasn't necessarily bad, was more of her same old style - it's as if she plays the same person in each role, who just happens to be in a completely new situation each time). Kerry Washington also impressed me as the confident, mouthy, and good at heart Chenille and I believe Sean Patrick Thomas also deserves a mention as Derek, as does Fedro Starr as Malakai.
Overall, I did like this film, it was fast paced, intelligent, easy watching, and a welcome change to the recent films I have been watching lately which all feel much slower, and emotionally heavy. However, the plot gives this film it's limitations, and although for it's genre it is up there with the best, it's not a film that I would say deserves to be forever remembered in film history. But that again, there are only a few that do.