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Movies / On DVD / Save the Last Dance
Save the Last Dance

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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. [More]

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

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 26, 2006

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Save the Last Dance

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61 - 80 (sorted by date)
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A decent, well-put-together romantic drama to hold hands to on the weekend.

comment Comment
01/12/01
Sara Wildberger
Sara Wildberger
Miami Herald

This movie would sooner see Derrick help Sara fulfill her Juilliard destiny than acknowledge how hard he worked to get into G-Town. It's profoundly square screen writing.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/12/01
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This skin-deep MTV Films production is more about promoting soundtrack sales than social causes.

comment Comment
01/12/01
Susan Wloszczyna
Susan Wloszczyna
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The playing of ballet against hip-hop gets more than a little corny, but the charismatic young performers make the corn work.

comment Comment
01/12/01
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Recycles every cliché of the genre to sleep-inducing effect.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/12/01
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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For all its dumb clichés it offers the basic appeal of teen movies: the pleasure of watching kids be kids, acting as they do among themselves instead of how parents and teachers expect them to act.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/12/01
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

The setup promises cliches, but the development is intelligent, the characters are more complicated than we expect, and the ending doesn't tie everything up in a predictable way.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/12/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A spirited, dirty dance between the polished inauthenticity of Hollywood romance-musicals and hip-hop's central tenet: keeping it real.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/12/01
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's far from tepid teen fare, thanks largely to the sweet chemistry between up-and-comer Sean Patrick Thomas and leading lady Julia Stiles.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/12/01
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It doesn't have an original idea in its head.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/12/01
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A Teen Dance Movie you don't have to remove your brain or be obsessed with getting-down to actually like.

comment Comment
01/12/01
Susannah Breslin
Susannah Breslin
TNT's Rough Cut

A strikingly unsubtle film.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
01/12/01
Arthur Salm
Arthur Salm
San Diego Union-Tribune

The film has a lot of surface complication but no attention span; it's a centimeter deep.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/12/01
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is flabby and fails to pack a punch, lacking the high-energy numbers needed to boost the tempo and get toes tapping.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
01/12/01
Sue Pierman
Sue Pierman
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A teen romance that generates enough honest emotion to play against the predictability of its finish.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/12/01
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As a film, it's no great shakes, and except for the reverse racism subplot, it's been there done that.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
01/11/01
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

While the resulting romance between Sara and Derek plays out unremarkably, the surrounding social milieu is treated with unusual restraint and good sense.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
01/11/01
George Meyer
George Meyer
Orlando Weekly

Stiles and Thomas are engaging young performers.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/11/01
Cody Clark
Cody Clark
Mr. Showbiz
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

More interesting as a barometer of suburban girls' fantasies than it is as a movie.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/11/01
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Breaks virtually no new narrative ground, yet treads the familiar territory it does cover with grace, style, wit and fun.

comment Comment
01/11/01
Gemma Files
Gemma Files
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date)
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all

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: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Set to "Make It Happen" In Burlesque Flick
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"
This week at the movies, we've got Oliver Stone paying tribute to the heroes of 9/11 ("World Trade Center," starring Nicolas Cage); two youngsters trying to start a... More...

August 10, 2005: "The Omen" Scares Up Two Stars
Not long ago we informed you that John Moore ("Flight of the Phoenix") was hired by Fox to helm their remake of "The Omen," and now comes word (from Variety)... More...

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