“Shall We Dance” (Miramax Films)
Richard Gere puts on his dancing shoes again in the delightful movie “Shall We Dance”, an American version of a Japanese hit film of a few years back. The film concerns one man’s search to find his passion and the effect it has on his family, his friends, and the rest of his life. Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez co-star in the movie but it is Gere’s film all the way.
John Clark (Gere) is an attorney. He has been married to Beverly (Sarandon) for nineteen years and they have a happy life. They love their two kids and they both enjoy their careers, but for John something is missing. He feels it every night as he rides the commuter train home to the suburbs.
One night he looks out the window of the train and sees a woman sitting in the window of a dance studio. The studio sign advertises “Dancing Classes.” On impulse at the next stop Clark gets off the train and signs up for lessons. He finds out the woman in the window is named Paulina (Lopez) and she is one of the instructors.
Clark gets completely caught up in the joy of dancing but he keeps his lessons a secret from his wife. She begins to think he is having an affair and hires some private detectives (Richard Jenkins and Nick Cannon) to follow him. Eventually the truth comes out with surprising results.
Gere is perfect for the role of John Clark. He showed his dancing skills in “Chicago” but in this movie he is starting from scratch as a man who isn’t tap dancing but is ballroom dancing. Whether swirling his dance partner around the ballroom, or going to see his wife wearing a tuxedo and carrying a single rose; he is the personification of romance. Women in the audience will eat it up.
Sarandon is okay as the wife though she looks a little old to be married to Gere. Lopez is surprisingly low key in her performance. Both women are there to support Gere’s role and they do that adequately.
Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale and Anita Gillette are standouts in the supporting category as respectively another lawyer in Clark’s firm, another student at the dancing class, and the dance class owner.
The movie is rated PG-13 for mild profanity and some mild sexual situations.
“Shall We Dance” is the kind of movie that just entertains. It doesn’t preach its message; it isn’t a laugh riot; it isn’t even a great love story. It is just a movie about a man finding a source for happiness that enlarges his enjoyment of every aspect of his life. And in watching that story, the audience is entertained.
I scored “Shall We Dance” a toe tapping 7 out of 10.
