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Movies / On DVD / Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School

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Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (2006)

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Reviews Counted: 59

Fresh: 13

Rotten:46

Average Rating: 4.7/10

Consensus: Clumsily staged and brimming with melodrama and trite self-help cliches, this dance movie stays stuck at amateur level.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for mature situations and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Mar 31, 2006 Limited

Box Office: $182,515

Synopsis: MARILYN HOTCHKISS' BALLROOM DANCING AND CHARM SCHOOL begins with a fated meeting, as Frank (Robert Carlyle) pulls over to aid a car-crash victim, Steve (John Goodman), who is slowly dying by the... MARILYN HOTCHKISS' BALLROOM DANCING AND CHARM SCHOOL begins with a fated meeting, as Frank (Robert Carlyle) pulls over to aid a car-crash victim, Steve (John Goodman), who is slowly dying by the side of the road. Frank is still coming to terms with his wife's suicide, so when Steve spins him a story about the dance school of the title, he decides to attend classes himself. Steve informs Frank that he was in love with a girl named Lisa (Camryn Manheim), who danced at the school when he was a 12-year-old boy. Now, some 40 years later, Frank was on his way to the school to meet her again, hoping to rekindle their flame. Director Randall Miller (CLASS ACT) neatly divides the story into three parts, providing flashbacks to flesh out Steve's story, showing Frank's desperate attempts--along with a paramedic team--to keep Steve alive, and illustrating what happens when Frank makes his way to the school. As the story pings back and forth, Frank arrives at the school intending to tell Lisa what happened to Steve, but fails to find her. What Frank does find, however, is Meredith (Marisa Tomei), a woman he hopes will fill in the aching gap left by the death of his wife. As Frank slowly falls in love with Meredith while continuing his search for Lisa, the film gently arcs through some sentimental material that should appeal to viewers who enjoy a good tearjerker. [More]

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei, Mary Steenburgen, Donnie Wahlberg

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei, Mary Steenburgen, Donnie Wahlberg, David Paymer, Danny De Vito, John Goodman, Camryn Manheim, Jody Savin

Director: Randall Miller

Director: Randall Miller
Producer: Eilleen Craft, Morris Rushkin
Composer: Mark Adler
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films

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Release:

Jul 4, 2006

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Reviews for Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School

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Yet another ballroom dancing movie presents dance as a universal balm that heals life's problems in this mildly inspired dramatic comedy.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/19/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Why would Frank drop everything to embark on this lunatic mission? Well, the answer is simple. If he didn't, there would be no movie - and perhaps that wouldn't have been such a bad thing.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
07/19/08
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner

A surprisingly-moving message movie about love and redemption filled with sentimental and transformational moments leading to tearjerker of a finale.

Full Review Source: Upstage Magazine | comment Comment
07/07/07
Kam Williams
Upstage Magazine

A miscast hodgepodge of a genre stew.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International

Utterly charming.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
08/26/06
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
08/26/06
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

Strong performances and moving themes are drowned in a sea of sentimentality.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/26/06
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

That the film was itself borne out of risk invests its message with an honesty and an authenticity more than sufficient to offset its flaws.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
08/26/06
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
08/25/06
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

I could believe almost nothing of this under-written, over-emoted saga.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
08/18/06
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

the entire movie is ridiculous

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/08/06
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

This is a wildly ill-conceived jumble, and not even its impressive cast can rescue it.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/03/06
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

... slight and slurry, like a champagne buzz.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
06/02/06
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

In this death-obsessed movie, the characters' lives flash before the audience's eyes - really, really slowly.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
05/05/06
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Clunky romantic comedy, which has the annoying habit of turning dead serious at exactly the wrong moment.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/05/06
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Miller has all but smothered the charm right out of his Charm School.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
04/28/06
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Not content to tell two lousy, maudlin stories at once, the movie goes for a full three.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
04/27/06
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

The movie is so bad it brings up a question %u2014 what's the opposite of a comeback film?

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
04/27/06
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

The picture trivializes the characters, hinting at depths it can't depict, aiming at a profundity of feeling it can't begin to reach.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
04/21/06
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Beyond Wahlberg's deft moves, School's dancing is leaden, not charming, and the only challenge is enduring the film's lumbering progress until it finally clicks at the end.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
04/21/06
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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