Save the Last Dance

Rating: 8/10 (30 November 2016)

Save the Last Dance is a film I can put on anytime, regardless of my mood, and enjoy it. The Thomas Carter film from 2001, is not a light film by any means, dealing with race relations and the death of a young girl's mother and her drive to overcome the associated guilt she feels as responsible for her mother's death. Starring Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas, Save the Last Dance is one I enjoy because its subject matter never loses its relevance, and the human emotions are presented in a very real way affecting the audiences with every viewing.
Sara Johnson (Julia Stiles), has always dreamed of being a ballerina, her mother has always been wholly supportive of her dreams, which is why it was so important to Sara that her mother was present at her audition for Julliard. Her mother, a florist with an incredibly busy schedule and informs Sara that she will be unable to attend her audition. Sara is devastated and begs her mother to adjust her schedule and be there for her big moment. Her mother is unable to turn her down and commits to being there. As Sara begins her audition, she is saddened to not see her mother in the audience and goes on unsuccessfully to complete her audition. A trooper informs Sara after her audition that her mother has been killed in an accident. Sara drops to the floor in despair, and her life is uprooted. Sara now has to move to be with a father she barely knows who has been absent most of her life and resume in a high school in an impoverished urban area of town. Sara has lived a homogeneous existence up to this point in her life and hasn't experienced much diversity so her new school and address are an incredible culture shock for her. After a tough adjustment, Sara is finally befriended by Chenille (Kerry Washington) who takes her under her wing, introducing her to friends at school and taking her to the hot dance club where a majority of students spend their free time. Sara also meets Chenille's brother Derek, a smart young man who must overcome the negative influences of the friends he surrounds himself with so he can better his life and attend Georgetown University. Derek decides to teach Sara the kind of dancing she will need to blend in at the dance club, and the two quickly fall in love. Throughout their union, Derek discovers the passion and talent Sara has for ballet and works with her to encourage her to resume her passion and audition for Julliard again. Sara is reluctant, as she feels she cannot make such a big step without her mother, but the confidence Derek bestows upon her may be the final push she needs to succeed. In a time and place in which interracial relationships are not looked upon highly, Derek and Sara must decide if their love for one another is worth overcoming the many stumbling blocks their relationship faces.
Julia Stiles plays the complicated emotionally charged part of Sara quite well. Sean Patrick Thomas just exudes charisma each moment he is on-screen and shares an infectious chemistry with Stiles. Kerry Washington drives the story quite well, proving that she was just as brilliant of an actress we know her to be now 15 years ago. The score and choreography are spellbinding and takes up most of the film, while simultaneously driving a beautiful story. Oftentimes, in a teen dancing movie, the plot is neglected for the dancing, but that problem does not occur in Save the Last Dance, thankfully. While it does not enjoy much critical acclaim, I found the film an enjoyable narrative dealing with tough issues as suppressed guilt and interracial relationships in a meaningful and powerful way.