IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

JohnHowardReid Needless to say, I loved it. The only thing I really didn't like was the conclusion, although I also thought that the fat boy learning how to dance was a cliché we could have well done without. The acting is well-nigh perfect with both Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez in really top form. Other outstanding portrayals were handed in by Stanley Tucci and Lisa Ann Walter. Incidentally, the Miramax DVD is loaded with fascinating extras, including a few brief scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor, plus fascinating interviews with director Peter Chelsom and other personnel.

cstotlar-1 Yes, indeed, this movie didn't display much eroticism. It wasn't meant to be erotic. Yes, agreed, this movie doesn't cover any new ground or new techniques. It was quite appropriate to work with things that have been tried in the past - in different ways - once again, and yes, by all means, things worked out in the end the way they so seldom do in films of our time, much to my surprise. It was a happy ending to (basically) a happy movie and there's nothing whatsoever in the world wrong with that. Even more, it's handled well on all levels - acting, script, music, dancing, color, camera movement...It's a film that fulfilled a need that many of us feel when the world doesn't go where we want it to go. It simply moves the world!

john32935 Richard Gere films fall into 2 categories me: "really like" and "really dislike." There seems to be little gray area. Count this one strongly in the "really like" column.An Americanized-version of the original Japanese film, the story is centered on Mr. Gere's character and his willingness to break his routine looking for more from life (some people do not appreciate how good they have it). His life from the outside looks enviable – great job, great wife (Susan Sarandon) and great family. But as Mr. Gere commutes home every night he spots the lovely and lonely-looking Jennifer Lopez peering out the window of a dance studio. On a whim, Mr. Gere jumps off the train and into the studio hoping to meet Ms. Lopez. He is quickly taught that there is no hope there, but in the process learns that he loves to dance. As his wife becomes suspicious of a change in his routine and attitude, she learns of his secret lessons and questions the reasons for them and the secrecy. To say more would spoil the plot, and that would be just wrong.I recommend this as a wonderful movie to watch – for young and old, for a great date movie, and even a great Valentine's movie. Just a warning to the male viewers, your woman may visibly swoon at the sight of Mr. Gere in a tuxedo carrying a red rose for his lady. Hard for us normal guys to live up to that image.

RNMorton Spoiler alert. I think this is really an exceptional, unusual ensemble movie. I've said I'm not a Richard Gere fan but I notice more often than not I really enjoy his work. He has a very modest way and sense of humor that I appreciate. In this one he is an attorney needing a little spark in his life (without knowing it), who notices JLo in the window of a dance studio and decides to dive in. Along the way he finds that his law partner (exquisitely, as always, played by Tucci) is a wig-wearing closet dancer himself. Walters is also great as Gere's eventual dance partner. If this was ordinary stuff Gere would end up with JLo and that would be that, as it is things don't go that way. My one complaint is the way they handle Gere's contest performance, which slightly flaws an otherwise intelligent movie. Otherwise, it's as fun and upbeat as they come.