They say it takes two to tango and Antonio Banderas should know. He stars in new dance movie Take the Lead, playing a ballroom dancing teacher to a very reluctant group of New York high school students.
Based on a true story, Banderas plays Pierre Dulaine, a well-meaning guy who wants to give back to his local neighbourhood.After witnessing a teenager taking out his anger on a parked car, he decides to volunteer his time to a local high school.
Pierre's request is simple: he wants to be allowed to teach ballroom dancing to the 'problem students.' Met with ridicule by Principal James (Alfre Woodard), and scepticism by the kids – most of who are poor and into hip hop – Pierre continues undeterred. A truce is struck and hey presto! The kids transform into a force to be reckoned with at the upcoming ballroom 'dance off' competition.
Boy have we seen this movie before: choose from Dangerous Minds, To Sir With Love, Mr. Holland's Opus, Fame, Coach Carter, Dead Poet's Society – at certain points I even thought I was watching a re-run of 70s TV show Welcome Back Cotter!
There are well-worn clichés falling out of every gaping seam in Take The Lead, which makes it much less of a film than it could have been (Mad Hot Ballroom was kind of the documentary version of this story – Dulaine founded the ball-room dancing craze currently sweeping New York "elementary" schools). The producers 'upgraded' the story to a high school setting, hoping the film would address the social inequities and problems still facing urban teens in New York. Not quite.
But I do confess for having a soft spot for Take the Lead – I love an underdog story and it does have its moments. Banderas is appropriately charismatic in the lead role, charming his way into situations that he clearly does not belong. He knows how to dance too, as do the kids although their transformation from booty shakin' bling babies into mad-hot ballroom contenders wasn't very convincing.
Young actor Rob Brown is no stranger to the "revolutionary teacher comes to the ghetto" genre (he had a major role in the similarly-themed Coach Carter). In particular he brings a graceful authenticity to his role as Rock, the quietly furious guy Dulaine encounters at the start of the film, beating up a car in frustration (of course he becomes one of Dulaine's students). Though the usually great Allfre Woodard is confined to a very by-the-numbers role as the jaded bureaucratic Principal, beaten down by the system.
Which brings me back to a point touched on previously: Take The Lead should have taken the lead as the relevant social drama it kept flirting with becoming. Instead the film struggles finding a balance between the drama and the dancing, perhaps the result of being the first feature for music video director Liz Friedlander. An inexperience in shaping the material is apparent. And worse, the music soundtrack wasn't used very imaginatively, not great in a 'dancical.'
That said though, I am a sucker for an underdog movie, and while it's nowhere near as accomplished as the underrated Coach Carter (2005), this still got me when all was said and done.
