A fine film, though mislabeled

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2004)

I personally liked this film and found the script intelligent. However, it is NOT a "dance" film. The two lead characters share several interests, the absolute least of which is dance - the foremost of which is survival, or coping to the environment. To me, it brought back memories of coping in the South Bronx, the south sixties in Chicago and in a warehouse district of Port of Spain - all places where I had wonderful experiences with unforgettable people but never without a degree of tension or apprehension.
On the other hand, I lived years in Brooklyn and saw absolutely zero within Saturday Night Fever that connected to my reality. I've never been able to stand Westside Story, for the glib way in which it eclipses hugely complex social issues behind a song-and-dance Romeo and Juliet story - and the way in which "the enemy" is wildly oversimplified, reduced to two, coherent gangs - when in fact muggers and killers appear anywhere - on the sidewalk ahead of you or in the next doorway or alley. In this film, I shared a sense of relief each time our lead characters arrived home alive. Yet the subject is not violence, nor shock - it's despite all I've said, an upbeat and humanistic film with a happy ending.
The "Save the Last Dance" title doubtless lured many who like the Dirty Dancing-SNF genre into watching, and I can understand their disappointment. This film is a vignette of life in a largely black neighborhood and of people who have both friendly and dangerous sides to them. There is a minimum of violence, virtually no offensive language, some great role models, no "sex" and is viewable by practically all ages.