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"So, You Really
Sleep With Melanie
Griffith?" |
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Directed by Liz
Friedlander - Written by
Dianne Houston
Starring Antonio
Banderas, Alfre Woodard,
Ray Liotta
Distributed by New Line -
2006 - 108mins - Rated
PG13 |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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B- |
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Never follow. |
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Is anyone else tired
of these "rescue the inner city kids" films?
Hmmmm. Let me think.
"Dangerous Minds"..."Music of the Heart"..."Stand and Deliver"..."Mad
Hot Ballroom."
What do all these films have in common? They all feature
disadvantaged, inner-city kids overcoming the odds thanks to the
heartwarming, determined effort of a "fish-out-of-water" teacher.
In "Take the Lead," we get Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine, who
finds himself brought into a Manhattan high school as a volunteer to
work with troubled youths in detention. Pierre is an ex-ballroom
dancer who currently runs a ballroom dancing school. He decides to
reach the kids through dance, first ballroom and, in a show of respect
to their culture, a combination of ballroom and hip-hop style urban
dancing. Of course, he meets with considerable resistance. Gradually,
over time he wins them over by constantly pulling them up to his level
and refusing to buy into their preconceived notions of themselves as
druggies, gangbangers, etc. As the youths begin to excel at dance, an
all-city dance competition is held and, well, you basically know the
rest of the story.
Banderas, surprisingly, is rather entertaining as Dulaine. Banderas'
interpretation of Dulaine is one of firm compassion, focus, energy and
strength. His performance plays much more sincerely than one would
believe from watching the film's rather bland trailer. I found myself
expecting a sort of campy quality to the film, but was pleasantly
surprised to see Banderas offering one of his best performances in
recent years.
"Take the Lead," however, does suffer from being the latest in a long
line of similar films. Most notably, it has a strong similarity to
last year's widely acclaimed documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom," though
this film is considerably darker, edgier and fairly intense for a
PG-13 rated film. Likewise, "Take the Lead" never really offers
anything original. The direction, by music video director Liz
Friedlander, is marvelous in energy and spirit but often emotionally
distant and lacking in cohesiveness. The ending, in particular, lands
with an almost uncomfortable thud that leaves too many loose ends
untied and leaves you feeling like there's something missing.
Dianne Houston's script is fairly typical of her "rah rah" style of
writing, as evidenced by previous works such as "Run for the Dream:
The Gail Devers Story" and "Knights of the South Bronx." The script is
rather formulaic, but the dialogue authentic and natural.
"Take the Lead" is blessed with strong supporting performances from
the likes of Alfre Woodard and Ray Liotta, adding a definite depth to
a film that all too often seems to be skimming the surface.
The young actors generally serve the the film well, and the dance
scenes are beautifully choreographed with particularly strong editing
that helps to enhance the excitement of the action.
Based upon a true story, "Take the Lead" is a slightly above average
film largely due to an unexpectedly heartwarming, inspired performance
from Antonio Banderas and Friedlander's ability to direct the dance
sequences in such a way that it's nearly impossible to not be
entertained and inspired. Despite its formulaic script, lack of
cohesion and remarkably disappointing ending, "Take the Lead" is
likely to entertain those who can surrender to a simple, feel-good
story about young people who overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to
achieve their dreams.
Did you enjoy "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Stand and Deliver," "Dangerous
Minds" and "Music of the Heart?" If so, then by all means take the
lead and head on down to your local theatre to catch "Take the Lead!" |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob Hall's
Comment
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