More than just another dance film.

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 2001)

I saw the trailer for this film and thought oh, great another American teen guilt ridden angst film, but I believe in giving every film a chance and i have to say, I'm glad I did with this one. At the start Julia Stiles is the stereotypical teenager in the way that she requires everyone to be at her beck and call. Slowly throughout the film we see her beginning to develop as a character and learn several important life lessons.
But the thing that shocked me most about this film was that it wasn't really about dance. This is the story about a young white girl trying to come to terms with the loss of her mother. While coping with being at a new school that is predominately black and trying to rebuild a relationship with her father who was missing from most of her life. To make things harder on her she falls in love with a gorgeous black student, who just happens to be one of the smartest kids in the school. The path of true love doesn't always run smoothly though and she finds herself isolated for not "sticking to her own kind".
I really have to praise the entire cast of this film they handle some very delicate issues on race relations very well and showed the audience that you can achieve anything if you want it badly enough.