Same sappy formula still taps toes in ‘Take the Lead’
I recently saw a gripping episode of “Oprah” in which she raises America’s awareness of schools in crisis. There are many high schools in the nation that are failing to effectively prepare their students for college and ultimately, the real world. Where is our future headed if our rising generation is failing to reach their potential? What must be done to ensure a successful education in our nation’s youth?
Duh, teach them how to dance!
Antonio Banderas (“The Mask of Zorro”) plays a classy ballroom instructor who waltzes (only figuratively, for now) into an inner city high school in New York to offer his services. The frazzled principal (played moderately by Alfre Woodard, “Something New”) resourcefully shoves Banderas into the detention hall where he is brought toe to toe with the school’s naughty miscreants. Everything else pretty much happens the way it’s expected to. All of the kids learn how to shake their hips and develop teamwork, discipline and good manners along the way. Who knew that ballroom dancing could instill so many wonderful values?
Even though this film is based on the life of a real man, the storyline isn’t very creative. We’ve seen this kind of film before. And the storyline isn’t very believable either. Having a bunch of underprivileged high school students learn the tango within a few months and then bring their super-fierce competition to the floor of a prestigious ballroom championship? It’s a bit of a stretch.
Directed by Liz Friedlander, whose only other directing projects include music videos and band documentaries, “Take the Lead” sustains an entertaining, optimistic spirit despite its slight lack of realism. With electrifying choreography and a clever synthesis of legitimate hip-hop and ballroom music, this film is amusing for any dance lover. Perhaps if the film exhibited more dancing it would have been more exciting to watch.
All of the actors clearly do their best here. But since the story isn’t sparkling with originality, they don’t really give explosive performances. All of the high school kids, while only portraying a list of stereotypes, keep the film fun with consistent ghetto spunk. This spunk results in a lot of humorous one-liners and engaging moments of awkwardness.
While the film sends a happy message about the importance of art in education and personal growth, there are a few moments where it gets too sappy. This is probably due mostly to the fact that everyone is trying too hard to be inspirational instead of just concentrating on having fun. The storyline tries to provide too many sub-plots and shoves too many different character developments into the 108-minute time frame. With the story having a noticeably bloated quality, this film surprisingly manages to stay on the beat and remain entertaining.
Having some firmly slick editing and a superb soundtrack that is sure to get everyone’s feet tapping, “Take the Lead” is enjoyable at least for a little while, even though it won’t be remembered for long. Cool music, hot dancing and inspiration for the masses.
Casey T. Allen is a critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to caseyal@cc.usu.edu.