Shall We Dance

Rating: Null/10 (24 January 2005)

I was enchanted by the original '96 version. It was sensitive, charming, enduring, wonderful. This is none of those things. I love Peter Chelsom's work, he's always had something meaningful to say in his previous films, especially Hear My Song. I can only imagine his entire family has been kidnapped and making this was part of the ransom. The original was firmly bedded in the Japanese culture, whereby a man absolutely would not flaunt himself in such a public display as ballroom dancing because it is considered taboo. What excuse has Gere's character got? None. Therefore the whole premise of the film is absolute nonsense. He could have gone home from work, told the good lady he wanted to take dance classes, and Bingo... he takes dance classes. It is simply preposterous to imagine this is something he would have to hide in present day America. Total baloney and shows complete disregard for the outstanding originality of the 96 movie. Waste of celluloid, but at least lovely Peter Chelsom has some pennies in the bank to come back to the UK and make proper films.