Exceptional (with one complaint)

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2014)

Spoiler alert. I think this is really an exceptional, unusual ensemble movie. I've said I'm not a Richard Gere fan but I notice more often than not I really enjoy his work. He has a very modest way and sense of humor that I appreciate. In this one he is an attorney needing a little spark in his life (without knowing it), who notices JLo in the window of a dance studio and decides to dive in. Along the way he finds that his law partner (exquisitely, as always, played by Tucci) is a wig-wearing closet dancer himself. Walters is also great as Gere's eventual dance partner. If this was ordinary stuff Gere would end up with JLo and that would be that, as it is things don't go that way. My one complaint is the way they handle Gere's contest performance, which slightly flaws an otherwise intelligent movie. Otherwise, it's as fun and upbeat as they come.