Comparison to "Shall We Dansu, " J-Lo Acting, and Few Comments on Dancing

Rating: 3/10 (3 January 2005)

I have seen the 1997 Japanese movie "Shall We Dansu?" only partially. The movie was successful in presenting the audience an insight about the Japanese culture, and the contrast created by the traditional Japanese family and societal values and the spirit of the Latin and Ballroom dancing.
This movie does not make sense as a remake. The cultural contrast so delicately pointed out in "Shall We Dansu?" (1997) ceases to exist in the 2004 movie. The most important message of the 1997 movie is related to the Japanese culture. This message disappears when the setting is changed to USA.
To illustrate, let's take the example of Gere being ashamed for dancing: There is no cultural reason why Gere (John Clark) would be ashamed of his wife (played by Sarandon) because of his dancing: What aspect of American culture shuns ballroom dancing? Why does he not just ask Sarandon to join him? The reason stated by Gere that he is ashamed to want more happiness in his life is absurd. There is no concept such as "shunning pursuit of happiness" in American culture, and as audience, we are presented no reason why Gere should be ashamed of this.
Another theme in the movie that does not fit to the American culture is the reaction of Lopez to Gere when she thinks that he is hitting on her: Kusukari's (Mai Kishikawa, counterpart of J-Lo in 1997 version) reaction to Yakusho (Shohei Sugiyama, counterpart of Gere) "This may sound rude, but I hope you don't join the class with me as your goal" is one of the peaks in the movie where the audience is presented with the dilemma Kusukari faces as she is torn between her position as dance instructor and her cultural disposition towards Yakusho. Her reaction is soft and measured, and takes care not to offend Sugiyama. Paulina's (played by Lopez in the 2004 version) reaction is extravagant: She risks injuring a stranger's feelings to the extend that he may give up dancing, and also risks losing a potential student to an already troubled dance studio. Although her cultural disposition to the issue is much "liberal" than her Japanese counterpart, her reaction is much more extreme and thus unrealistic.
Comments on the dancing technique: The actors could not dance. Period. This is understandable for Gere and the other students. It is unacceptable that supposedly professional dancers, played by Walter, (Bobbie) Gillette (Miss Mitzi) perform such unaesthetic wriggling on the dance floor.
Final note on Lopez: It is unfair to present her acting as "bad." She gave the character everything that the character needs. None of the characters in the movie required too much depth. Her acting is not comparable to a professional actress such as Sarandon, however it is more than sufficient for such a shallow and unrealistic character. The fact that the character is shallow and unrealistic is the fault of the director and 2004 screenplay writer, not the actress.
In addition, Lopez's dancing technique was significantly better than the rest of the supposedly professional dancers, contributing much to realism, or better stated, contributing to decrease the unrealism of the movie. Her dancer's training and background, including the fact that she actually took night dance classes when working in a law firm, makes her a natural fit to this role. Her short performance of Paso Doble set in the darkened dance studio was very well performed.