Save The Last Dance Dvd [2001] - DVD (Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington, Fredro Starr, Terry Kinney - Dir: Thomas Carter)

Save the Last Dance enjoyed a profitable release in early 2001, with box-office earnings that exceeded anyone's expectations. Its performance illustrates the staying power of a formulaic film that avoids the pitfalls and clichés that would otherwise render it forgettable. Since there's nothing new here, you'll appreciate the original quirks in a character-based plot that's just around the corner from Flashdance, and just as familiar. Sara (Julia Stiles) gave up a promising ballet career when her mother was killed while rushing to attend her daughter's crucial audition to Juilliard; Sara blames herself for the accident, and at her new, mostly African-American high school in Chicago, she's uncertain of her future.

Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) has no such doubts; his own future is bright, and his attraction to Sara is immediate; they connect (predictably), and Sara's dormant funk emerges, with Derek's coaching, as she learns hip-hop dancing in a local club. Obligatory subplots are equally routine: Derek's sister (Kerry Washington) is a single mom struggling with her child's absentee father; Derek's best friend (Fredro Starr) feels trapped in his gangster lifestyle; and Sara's once-estranged father (Terry Kinney) is doing his best to correct past mistakes. Within the confines of this standard follow-your-dream drama, director Thomas Carter capitalises on a script that allows these characters to be real, intelligent, and thoughtful about their lives and their futures. It's obvious that Stiles's dancing was intercut with that of a professional double, but that illusion hardly matters when the rest of the film's so earnestly positive and genuine. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews of Save The Last Dance Dvd [2001]

moviebuff05
uk
7th November 2008

not a bad viewing
Everyone had gone on about this film for years telling me how brilliant it was so I decided I'd beter watch it! I have to say I have seen better films involving dance or someone coming from a bad background and finally 'making it'. It was a good experience and the music was great but I'd much rather watch something like 'Center Stage' or even the second 'Dirty Dancing' again and again than this more than once.

Mariam Zahedi
London - UK
30th September 2008

All dance films seem to follow the exact same formula, but this one stands out as one of the best
I think the title pretty much sums up what I'm going to say in this review. I finally got around to watching 'Save the Last Dance', becoming quite tired of the 'How can you not have seen 'Save the Last Dance', it's the best dance film out there!' comments each time the film came up in conversation. And yes, I enjoyed it, it was a good, entertaining film, but it definatley was not one of the greatest things ever created and I don't think it deserves quite as much hype as it recieves.

The story line has become a cleche by now, girl and boy become romantically involved against a backdrop of dancing. I think that this was one of the first dance films of it's kind though, and you can almost feel that throughout the movie - it feels fresh and original, not like a carbon copy of an already done and dusted formula (such as 'How She Move' felt). Also, I think it's important to mention how influencial this film was in encouraging more dance films to be made, some of them rather good too, like Step Up 1 + 2, Take the Lead, etc. However, by now the forumla wears thin, and has been done too many times, so even whilst this film was one of the first in it's genre, a viewer watching this for the first time these days already knows what will happen at the end less than 10 minutes into the film, and that's definatley a let down (though, it's hardly a fault that the movie could have prevented, without foresight).

The dancing is not the greatest I have ever seen in this genre of film, that would have to go, hands down, to the street-dancing in Step Up 2 (and I do believe that the ballet in Step Up 1 probably deserves second place) but it is good enough for the film, and definatley not the worse I have seen. In fact, Sara's final dance may be one of my favourite routines ever seen on film. I was very surprised to discover Julia Stiles was such a capable, and very skilled ballet dancer - her dancing impressed me far more than her acting in this film (which, although wasn't necessarily bad, was more of her same old style - it's as if she plays the same person in each role, who just happens to be in a completely new situation each time). Kerry Washington also impressed me as the confident, mouthy, and good at heart Chenille and I believe Sean Patrick Thomas also deserves a mention as Derek, as does Fedro Starr as Malakai.

Overall, I did like this film, it was fast paced, intelligent, easy watching, and a welcome change to the recent films I have been watching lately which all feel much slower, and emotionally heavy. However, the plot gives this film it's limitations, and although for it's genre it is up there with the best, it's not a film that I would say deserves to be forever remembered in film history. But that again, there are only a few that do.

Malcolm Clarke
Durham, UK
3rd February 2008

Predictable, but well done throughout
This film sees Julia Stiles in her normal earlier film role, the talented yet somewhat reserved character who hides either a striking beauty or inner talent that is reluctantly (but eventually stunningly) brought to the fore for all to see.

She plays a young ballet dancer called who's mother dies in a crash going to see her audition which she fails to impress at. She is forced to go and live with her father who is a down-and-out character living in a dingy flat. That said, he does not fit into the normal "drunk" character he appears to be when we first meet him. He is portrayed as someone who has not had much luck in life and wants a second chance.

Stiles character is forced to go to a school where 99% of the students are black coming from tough backgrounds. She is befriended by a girl called Chanelle, and her brother Derek becomes her love interest in the film, a highly intelligent guy who wants to break free from the ghetto lifestyle. With his help she again tries to follow her dream and uses his help to put her life back together.

The film is refreshing in that there is not much of the racism and segregation that you expect when she walks into the school as the only white person (almost). The production was clever in that a girl that is "down" with the culture of the school in the group of friends she enters is also white, and this downplays the differences a little, and allows you as the viewer to accept her into the group more easily.

The characters go into a down-town club, and Sarah learns to dance the street way. This is integrated into a routine she does at the end of the movie which is cleverly choreographed. Some people will see the themes and endings coming a mile away which is predictable in some respects, but it is well-made and well-acted enough to get away with it. It addresses some important themes and is a well put together movie that you can watch again and again.

ema_lou832
leicestershire
19th March 2007

Brilliant Film
I have had this dvd sitting on my shelf for about a year. The other night i decided to watch it and i have to say it is fantastic. The storyline is really true to life with brilliant characters and a great soundtrack. It tells a story of a girl named sara who has a dream of getting into dance school to study ballet. Her mother is killed on the way to sara's audition so she has to go to live with her estranged father in an all black community in a rough area of chicago. She is befriended by a girl named Chenille. Sara quickly falls for Chenille's brother Derek who introduces her to the world of hip hop. They have a good relationship but find that they are constantly trying to justify a white girl/black man relationship. The film also addresses the gangster gun culture with Derek's best friend Malakai trying to gain 'respect' in an east side/west side storyline. I really enjoyed this film and since watching it have watched it again about 5 times. I would definitly recommend it and the fact that Sean Patrick Thomas is HOT doesn't hurt either.

Neb
London, UK
23rd February 2006

Well worth a fiver
It’s a cheesy rip-off of just about every US dance-orientated teen film, cheaply made with some terrible acting, but Julia Styles turns Save the Last Dance into a piece of B-movie magic. The dancing in the latter part of the film is fantastic, to some decent hip hop tracks.