Review
SHALL WE DANCE
Starring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon
Directed by Peter Chelsom
Opens Friday, October 15
Check listings
John Clark is in a rut. Or perhaps it’s a mid-life crisis. Tough to say when you’re portrayed by Richard Gere, an actor with the emotional depth of a dumpster.
In any case, Clark’s escape from his mundane life via the dance floor is the gist of Shall We Dance, a remake of the 1996 Japanese film of the same name (a movie I did not see), which owes a lot to the pep and playfulness of Strictly Ballroom (a movie I did see, and liked). Unfortunately, director Peter Chelsom (Serendipity) is no Baz Luhrmann and thus, Shall We Dance is no classic.
I’ll give him credit for this much, though – despite a heap of missteps, this comedy-drama keeps on moving. Who knows how Shall We Dance might have turned out with a little less saccharine and a little more weight? In any case, it’s a mildly pleasant diversion, and the fact that we can include the word pleasant in a review of anything involving Jennifer Lopez these days has to be considered a small victory.
In Shall We Dance, Clark, a bored accountant, figures the gorgeous woman with the sad stare (Lopez), a fixture in the window of the dance studio he passes by every day, could be the answer to putting a spark in his monotonous life. So he signs up for ballroom dancing lessons, alongside Chic (Bobby Cannavale) and Vern (Omar Miller) – two fellow beginners, dancing to their own clichés. Career scene-stealer Stanley Tucci, who plays Gere’s goofy co-worker, waltzes by as well, but I’m not sure Shall We Dance needed this particular brand of comic relief.
Back home, John’s devoted wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon), getting increasingly suspicious of her husband’s absence, jumps to the conclusion that he’s having an affair and sends out spies. But as Clark’s hobby slowly transforms into an obsession, his passion isn’t so much for that curvy Latin booty – it’s for the art of dance itself.
It’s pretty clear what Shall We Dance is trying to say – that a good, heartfelt tango can answer some of life’s tougher questions. Shallow? Sure. Silly? Absolutely. But then, Billy Crystal solved similar issues in City Slickers by fondling cattle. Maybe a spin around the old dance floor with J-Lo doesn’t sound too bad after all. |
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