Rating: Summary: Teen romance set to a beat. Review: Julia Stiles plays Sara Johnson, a teenager who has her life turned upside down when her mother dies suddenly. With this single accident comes any number of world-shattering changes: Suddenly her passion for dance becomes a source of guilt. She is forced to live with her father, a stranger who has played no role in her life since leaving her and her mother. To do this, she must move from her middle class white world to urban Chicago, where her blond hair and ballet training do little to help her blend in with her new peers. But Sara is no wallflower, and finds a place for herself in her new school and community. Here, too, dance plays an important part of life, and in learning how to "speak" the physical language of hip hop dance, Sara is befriended by Derek Reynolds (Sean Patrick Thomas). Despite the pressures from their peers, Sara and Derek find themselves drawn to each other, and help each other grow. While I feel that this movie glosses over many of the problems Sara would have faced in her situation, it's a passable teen romance, and tries to have a message. How successful this message will be at reaching its target audience is dubious, but the movie will probably be enjoyed for its music and dance sequences, and for its humor.
Rating: Summary: Please forget the last dance Review: This movie is such garbage. 1 and 1/2 hours of a Flashdance remake with ethnic bump n' grind. And a girl, the ever boring Julia Stiles, wanting to learn how to do the ethnic bump n' grind. Oh and there is a "message" in this film, kind of a West Side Story thing. All the cliches are there and if I were black, this movie would offend me. The black women are either street walkers or welfare mommas and the black men are gangsters. Way to go with the stereotypes. GAG GAG GAG.
Rating: Summary: What happens when society says you can't love who you do Review: I saw this movie in the theatre right after it came out. I saw it again after with my parents after it came out on video. My mom couldn't get past the bad language to see the wondeful story but this movie is one of my altime favortites. Sara is an 17 year old ballet dancer, destined for Julliard but when her mother is killed in a car crash on the way to her audition she is sent to live with her father in the inner-city. At her new school she finds that most of the students are black snd she is the one who stands out. She makes friends with Chanille a teen-age single mother. Her first night out at a hip hop club she feels awkward and stiff despite her ballet training. Chanille's brother Derek starts to teach her to dance hip hop style and they start to fall for each other. She shares with him that she feels her mothers death was her fault and her secret dream to still go to Julliard. He tells her to go for her dreams and helps her get back into shape. But thay are slowly learning that people don't view their relationship as an appropriate one. She's white. He's black. And they don't belong to one another. Derec's ex-grilfriend makes that clear and at one point Chanille tells Sara "after drugs,gangs and drive-by's your taking up one of the only decent guys left" after hearing that she goes to Derek and tells him maybe they should take a break from their relationship so they can think it over. Derek takes it the wrong way and runs to his old buddies who tell him that the best way to blow off steam would be to help them with a drive by shooting they're planning her agrees and sets off to Find Chanille who confesses what she said to Sara and tells him "you can't help who you love Derek". Now Understanding why Sara said what she did he heads off to find her. She's at her Julliard audition, upset about her fight with Derek she falters during her performance and wonders if she can go on. Derek shows up and tells her he loves her a belives in her and she can do this. After the performance of her life she is told unoffcially. "welcome to Julliard"
Rating: Summary: The most awesome movie! Review: Hi, Save the Last Dance, the VHS, is off the hook. The music is awesome for example: The characters are Sara,a white girl who loves ballerna and who's mom died now she lives with her father and going to an all blac school, Derek, a black boy who wants to be a doctor, Snookie, a black boy that is Derek's friend, Malakai, also Derek's friend who's been to juvi for 4 years, Chenille, a black girl who has a baby named Christopher and a boyfriend, Nikki, a black girl who was Derek's girlfriend before Sara came.
Rating: Summary: Dad approved Review: I never would have chosen this movie. I'm not a Julia Stiles fan (too pouty) and I'm not a "dance movie" enthusiast. In this case, I was just a dad indulging his daughter. We sat down to watch this video together and I prepared for the worst. (I'll make no reference to Flashdance.) I was very pleasantly surprised. In my eyes, the story line is classic Romeo/Juliet, forbidden love, society just won't leave the young lovers alone material. While there was a lot of visually pleasing dance footage it was clear that the movie was not about dancing. There are a number of interesting subplots, but none are contrived and all of them work to support the main theme. All of the actors turned in excellent performances. I commend Julia Stiles for a steady performance that kept the character believable. Sean Patrick Thomas also delivers a very believable performance. Fredo Starr is the perfect ghetto-trapped, trying to make the best of it, hoodlum, and Terry Kinney's performance as "Dad" makes all of us Dads happy. This movie turned out to be perfect. I enjoyed watching it, but, more importantly, my daughter loves it. The movie delivers a thought provoking plot with wisdom and sincerity. I'll watch for other movies under Thomas Carter's direction. For all those reasons, I give Save the Last Dance a hearty thumbs-up from Dad.
Rating: Summary: Nice plot, bad acting Review: OK, I watched it since it was hyped so much. I was dissapointed by all the swaring and fighting. I thought this was supposed to be a movie about different styles of dancing. If you want teen drama then I guess this could be for you. If you're looking for something about a young dancer trying to make it, this isn't it.
Rating: Summary: Teen movie free of clichés Review: 'Save The Last Dance' is a movie about Sara, who hopes to win a place at Julliard to do ballet. However, when her mother dies in a car crash she goes to live with her father and becomes one of the only white people at her new school, forgetting about ballet altogether. Feeling an outsider at first she befriends the popular Chenille and becomes interested in her brother Derek. Before long Sara and Derek are seeing each other and her old love of ballet is reawakened, influenced by the hip-hop and rap that her friends listen to. Although the romance and the reawakening of Sara's dream is obvious enough, it is its refusal to skirt the tricky issues not often dealt in teen movies. Chenille's baby, the estranged father and arguments concerning race are all in there alongside the beautiful faces, dancing, fighting and kissing. It's true that it's a distinctly average movie on several levels but it should be credited by giving a realistic interpretation of teenage life amidst racial tension. For example, the inevitable fight between Sara and Derek takes place not so much because of Derek's ex (Bianca Lawson - Kendra from 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'), but because of the friction that Sara causes with Derek's friends and family. It may all lead to a sappy conclusion but it's a rare teen move that will show a shoot-out and a mother still at school.
Rating: Summary: Save the Last Dance Review: I am a 78 year old grandmom. One of my favorite movies is "Dirty Dancing". This movie reminds me of that with a more modern theme. This is the way kids act, talk and dance today. I thought it was very very good. I watched it with my grandsons and we all enjoyed it a lot.
Rating: Summary: This movie was great! Review: Save the Last Dance was a great movie! This movie was a mix of romance and drama and great for all mature ages. This movie showed people the issue of racism and the urban part of Chicago. It is one of the best movies I have seen so far!
Rating: Summary: Very offensive Review: I found Save the Last Dance to be very offensive. Its pounded heavily with bad attitude, violence, profanity, sensuality, and freak dancing (the guys and girls body touch very closely and very sexualy) when dancing. Its so disgusting. I don't understand why any teens would want to waste their time watching this dirty movie. Mtv is responsible for bringing this dirty romp to the big screen and I'm sorry that I ever saw it. It may come across as the story of dancing and romance, but its not. Its misrated and an R rating would have been more appropriate for this movie. This is a filthy movie, and shouldn't be seen by anyone.
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