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Save the Last Dance (2001)
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Reviews Counted:96
Fresh:51
Rotten:45
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: This teen romance flick feels like a predictable rehashing of other movies.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, sexual content, language and brief drug references
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jan 12, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $90,696,166
Synopsis:
Sara's life is devoted to dance -- she wants nothing more than to make it into New York's famous Julliard School. But when tragedy strikes and she loses her mom, her hopes are dashed and she buries...
Sara's life is devoted to dance -- she wants nothing more than to make it into New York's famous Julliard School. But when tragedy strikes and she loses her mom, her hopes are dashed and she buries her dreams of ever attending the country's best dance school.
Without her Mom to support her, Sara moves to the tough streets of Chicago's South side to live with her Dad -- a down on his luck jazz musician who she barely knows. Her new school's a totally different world from the small town she grew up in, but Sara's quick comebacks and sassy attitude earn her the quick respect and friendship of straight-talking Chenille. But it's Chenille's brother, Derek, the cool and good-looking star of the school, who grabs Sara's attention. He plays it up tough, but he also has the smarts and a plan to go to medical school.
When Chenille takes Sara to Steppes, the neighborhood hang, she gets her first taste of hip-hop -- and Derek's the one to show her the moves. When they discover they share a passion for dance, they discover that there's something deeper going on -- a passion for each other. But they soon find out the hard way that they must not only overcome their own differences, but the resentment and bad blood of their friends and family. As the school year goes on, the couple finds that their affection and devotion to each other could ultimately threaten Derek's hopes for a better life and Sara's rediscovery of her dance.
Yet against all the odds they overcome the obstacles to their dreams, and discover that ultimately the only person you have to be is...yourself.
Starring: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Terry Kinney, Fredro Starr
Starring: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Terry Kinney, Fredro Starr, Kerry Washington, Bianca Lawson
Director: Thomas Carter
Director: Thomas Carter
Producer: Robert W. Cort, David Madden
Screenwriter: Duane Adler, Cheryl Edwards
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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Reviews for Save the Last Dance
As teen melodrama, well, Carter's film is what it is; but for such a mainstream black-consciousness movie, at least it doesn't shy from addressing some touchy issues about masculinity, parenthood, and black attitudes to whites.
Ultimately, this talented twosome [Stiles and Thomas] can only do so much with a script that continually lets them down at about every turn.
It's not courageous enough to deviate from the teen movie formula more than a smidgeon.
Sara's got a sense of humor about how very uncool she is, and she proves to be a game girl.
To the film's credit, it tries, and while it never really sings, it does deliver the dance.
Tries to squeeze in a few too many plot elements into too short a time.
Stiles and Thomas redeem this film over and over. And the dancing is fun to watch, too.
Likeable teen romance that overcomes its inevitable predictability thanks to its talented cast and its avoidance of both clichés and syrupy sentimentality.
Carter has given us a pleasant enough, if not especially original film.
If "Dance" stumbles into a few too many subplots and a couple of cliched characters along the way, it also makes some strong points about contemporary attitudes toward the idea of interracial romances.
A refreshingly friendly view of a romance between people of different pigmentation, an area where more respectable pictures still wimp out.
The leads shine and the relationship really grew on me. There’s not much more to ask for in a movie like this.
An interracial romance between an aspiring ballerina and a hip hop devotee that sets off sparks within the African American community where they live.
Ballet meets hip-hop in this warmly enjoyable yet unambitious teen romance.
Latest News for Save the Last Dance
February 13, 2008:
Total Recall: It's a Dance Dance Revolution
Audiences have been historically dismissive of all the critical contempt, pushing dozens of fancy-footed extravaganzas to the upper reaches of the box-office charts.
For this... More...
July 11, 2007:
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If you watched "Live Free or Die Hard" and thought, "Gee, what I'd really like to see is Mary Elizabeth Winstead with less clothing and more dancing," this... More...
August 09, 2006:
Critical Consensus: A Brave New "World," A "Step" Down, And No Screenings for "Pulse" and "Zoom"
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August 10, 2005:
"The Omen" Scares Up Two Stars
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