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Rating: Inspired by the true story of Pierre Dulain, a dancer who owns a dance school in Manhattan, this film features Antonio Banderas as the serene, very polite, but eager to help others, protagonist.
After meeting a young black man who vents his anger by wrecking the car of his principal, Dulaine decides to try to help the kids of a notorious high school in the best way he can: by teaching them ballroom dancing, which he sees as a metaphor for real life. He teaches them to respect their partner, he teaches them to view dance as an art form... The kids become infected by the enthusiasm of the teacher, until... I don't want to spoil everything for you.
Perhaps I could say that the ending is a bit predictable, the usual happy ending, but what makes this movie special, besides Banderas' charm (which is certainly welcome), are the wonderful music tracks. Great classics of swing and tango (by the way, in one tango scene Banderas is the protagonist along with a professional dancer: not bad, the guy! He dances really well!), alongside the rap and hip hop music of the kids, who at a certain point find themselves immersed in the world of ballroom dancing, rehearsing their routines for the final competition (tango, waltz, foxtrot) to the tune of "Feel It" by the Black Eyed Peas.
This film is the meeting of two different worlds, the golden and polished world of the bourgeois Dulaine, and the decidedly more raw and "real" world of the underprivileged kids.
What we can understand from this film is that passion can take many forms... but the essence is always the same.
Nice film, good acting. As I said, the ending is predictable but the music saves even the mistakes. Not a great film, but enjoyable.
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