Box office and reaction

In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $12.8 million, ranking a strong third in the North American box office. Overall, it has grossed over $30 million in the United States box office, even though many critics gave it poor reviews, citing bad acting and a formulaic plot. Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times panned it as “old uninspired Hollywood hustle” while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, ranking it “D+”, called the student actors “one-note cartoons” and described the combination of dance styles as “naked desperation to fuse demographics” on the part of the producers.

Trivia

• Much of Take the Lead, including all of the exterior shots of the high school depicted in the film, was filmed in the University of Toronto Schools, a private school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

• A large portion of the soundtrack was produced by Swizz Beatz.

• When the film was released in the Philippines, Dante Basco was named as a lead actor in movie posters, alongside Antonio Banderas.

Soundtrack

1. “I Got Rhythm” (Performed by Lena Horne & Q-Tip)
2. “Take the Lead (Wanna Ride)” (Performed by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony featuring Wisin & Yandel, Fatman Scoop and Melissa Jiménez)
3. “Feel It” (Performed by Black Eyed Peas)
4. “I Like That (Stop)” (Performed by Jae Millz)
5. “These Days” (Performed by Rhymefest)
6. “Here We Go” (Performed by Dirtbag)
7. “Whuteva” (Performed by Remy Ma)
8. “Ya Ya” (Performed by The Empty Heads)
9. “Never Gonna Get It” (Performed by Sean Biggs, Topic and Akon)
10. “I Like That You Can’t Take That Away From Me” (Performed by Jae Millz, June Christy, Eric B, Rakim and Mashonda)
11. “Fascination” (Performed by Kem)

Bonus Track

1. “Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” (Performed by Sly & The Family Stone)

Plot

Frank Keane (Robert Carlyle) is a grieving baker in a near catatonic state, happens upon a car accident. The loquacious and insightful victim, Steve Mills (John Goodman), is on his way to an appointment in Pasadena with a years-ago acquaintance; he asks Frank to go in his place. It’s a dance class. Frank goes to find Steve’s friend. The story moves back and forth among Steve’s childhood, the accident scene, and the aftermath of Frank’s first Lindy hop.

Cast

• Robert Carlyle as Frank Keane
• John Goodman as Steve Mills
• Sean Astin as Kip Kipling
• Mary Steenburgen as Marianne Hotchkiss
• Marisa Tomei as Meredith Morrison
• Donnie Wahlberg as Randall Ipswitch
• David Paymer as Rafael Horowitz
• Camryn Manheim as Lisa Gobar
• Adam Arkin as Gabe DiFranco
• Sonia Braga as Tina
• Elden Henson as Young Steve Mills / Samson
• Ernie Hudson as Blake Rische

Tango, foxtrot, swing, rumba and merengue may seem to represent the last vestiges of a dying art to some, but Agrelo proves this is far from true in Mad Hot Ballroom. Agrelo and Sewell reveal that the New York City public school system runs a ballroom dance program for fifth graders, in which these former preserves of the adult world are given a new lease on life.

The documentary premiered at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and was purchased by Paramount Classics and Nickelodeon Movies. It is the only Nickelodeon film to be released by Paramount Vantage. Mad Hot Ballroom was the second highest grossing documentary in 2005 after March of the Penguins. As of July 1, 2008 it had earned over $8.1 million, making it the ninth-highest-grossing documentary film in the United States – (in nominal dollars, from 1982 to the present).

Plot

Based on a feature article written by Sewell, Mad Hot Ballroom looks inside the lives of eleven-year-old New York City public school kids who journey into the world of ballroom dancing and reveal pieces of themselves along the way. Told from the students’ perspectives, the film highlights the cultural diversity that is the soul of New York City as the children strive toward the final citywide competition.

The film chronicles the experiences of students at three schools in the neighborhoods of Tribeca, Bensonhurst and Washington Heights. The students are united by a zeal for the ballroom dancing lessons, which builds over a 10-week period and culminates in a competition to find the school that has produced the best dancers in the city. As the teachers cajole their students to learn the intricacies of the various disciplines, Agrelo intersperses classroom footage with the students’ musings on life; many of these reveal an underlying maturity. Gender and race boundaries disappear as focus on the competition consumes the students’ energy, and the teachers are brought to tears as they see their prodigies turning into what one teacher touchingly terms “little ladies and gentlemen.”

Mad Hot Ballroom celebrates the intricate lives of these students and reminds audiences of their own childhoods when anything was possible. Living with the complexities of big city life, these kids take on something unfamiliar and rise to the occasion. Filled with emotion and triumph, this documentary feature captures the essence of growing up in America.

Awards

Awards bestowed upon Mad Hot Ballroom include:

• The Christopher Award in 2006
• Best Documentary at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2005
• The Audience Award at the Philadelphia Film Festival
• Satellite Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005

The Cast

• P.S. 150 Tribeca dance team members are Emma Biegacki, Tara Devon Gallagher, Cyrus Hernstadt, Zeb Liburd, Richard R. Brown IV, Jao-Ke Chin Lee, Willie C. Gantt, Dominic Guglielmo, Quana Jones, Celia B. Ortiz, Zelaina Rodriguez and Nile Roc Terry.

Allison Sheniak is the classroom teacher; and Alex Tchassov, a Russian native, is the teaching artist from American Ballroom Theater, the organization that provides the instruction.

• P.S. 112 Bensonhurst dance team members are Michael Vaccaro, Jia Wen Zhu, Priscilla Kwong, Ariel Escoto, Sharese DeBiasi, Benjamin Feng, Mohammad Hussein, Nathalie Perez, Bleron Samarxhiu, David Wong, Jean Xiaoyi, Sherry Zeng.

Victoria Malvagno is the ABrT Teaching Artist.

• P.S. 115 Washington Heights dance team members are Wilson Castillo, Jatnna Toribio, Elsamelys Ulerio, Kelvin Acevedo, Joshua Duran, Jeffrey Espinal, Kevin Heredia, Kelvin Muñoz, Michell and Angie Toribio.

Yomaira Reynoso is the classroom teacher and Rodney Lopez is the ABrT teaching artist.

Plot

John Clark (Richard Gere) is a lawyer with a charming wife and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his commute home through Chicago, John sees a beautiful woman staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for ballroom dancing lessons, hoping to meet her. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), but the older Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette), and John proves just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date.

But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago’s biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) becomes suspicious. With his secret about to be revealed, John has to do some fancy footwork to keep his dream going and realize what it is he really yearns for.

Reception

Shall We Dance received a 48% rating from Rotten Tomatoes (Fresh: 70 Rotten: 75). Roger Ebert stated in the Chicago Sun Times that “I enjoyed the Japanese version so much I invited it to my Overlooked Film Festival a few years ago, but this remake offers pleasures of its own.”

Cast

• Richard Gere as John Clark
• Jennifer Lopez as Paulina
• Susan Sarandon as Beverly Clark
• Lisa Ann Walter as Bobbie
• Stanley Tucci as Link Peterson
• Anita Gillette as Miss Mitzi
• Bobby Cannavale as Chic
• Omar Miller as Vern
• Tamara Hope as Jenna Clark
• Stark Sands as Evan Clark

Plot

After burying his mother, charming but broody Rafael Infante (Chayanne) comes from Santiago, Cuba to Houston, Texas to work for a man named John Burnett (Kris Kristofferson) as a handyman in Burnett’s dance studio. It soon becomes clear to the audience that Burnett is the father Rafael had never known. While there he finds himself falling for a dancer and instructor Ruby Sinclair (Williams), who incidentally brought him to the studio. It turns out that the dancers in the studio are preparing for a dance competition in Las Vegas and that Ruby would be taking part as well. Rafael gets close to Ruby and their attraction to each other grows, but she is not willing to commit herself to a relationship as she seems more interested in her dancing.

Cast

• Vanessa L. Williams as Ruby Sinclair
• Chayanne as Rafael Infante
• Kris Kristoferson as John Burnett
• Joan Plowright as Bea Johnson
• Jane Krakowski as Patricia Black

A 2004 film, also called Shall We Dance? is an American remake of the film. It stars Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and Jennifer Lopez.

Reception

Shall We Dansu received a 93% rating from Rotten Tomatoes (Fresh: 28 Rotten: 2). Roger Ebert stated in the Chicago Sun Times that Shall We Dansu is “one of the more completely entertaining movies I’ve seen in a while–a well-crafted character study that, like a Hollywood movie with a skillful script, manipulates us but makes us like it.”

It performed strongly in American theaters earning roughly $9.7 million during its US release.

Awards

At the Japanese Academy Awards it won 14 awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Film, Best Lighting, Best Music Score, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Newcomer of the Year (in short, every award it was eligible to win).

Style

The film plays with clichés and stereotypes, mocking and embracing them at the same time. Luhrmann has also commented that the film revolves around stories similar to David and Goliath, Cinderella and The Ugly Duckling.

Original play

The film was an adaptation of an original short play of the same name created by Luhrmann and first staged in 1986. At the end of 1988, Luhrmann was approached by producer Tristram Miall to transform his play into a movie.

Luhrmann told Playbill that he would revive the play onstage sometime in 2005, but this never happened.

Awards

Strictly Ballroom was a huge hit at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the “Award of the Youth” prize in the foreign film category. It was sought after by distributors from across the world. Immediately after its showing at Cannes, it was sold to 86 countries for more than $10 million. It has been placed as the film option on the British, South-African and Irish school leaving examinations for English, alongside such classics as On the Waterfront and Ten Little Indians, and is studied for the Australian Higher School Certificate English course.

Cast

• Paul Mercurio as Scott Hastings
• Tara Morice as Fran
• Bill Hunter as Barry Fife
• Pat Thomson as Shirley Hastings
• Gia Carides as Liz Holt
• Peter Whitford as Les Kendall
• Barry Otto as Doug Hastings
• John Hannan as Ken Railings
• Sonia Kruger as Tina Sparkle
• Pip Mushin as Wayne Burns

The movie is based on the stories My Husband and My Memories of Vernon Castle, by Irene Castle. The movie was adapted by Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Yost and Richard Sherman.

Irene Castle acted as advisor to this film, and constantly disagreed with the director as to details of costuming and liberties taken. When informed that white actor Walter Brennan was to play the part of faithful servant Walter, she was dumbfounded: the real Walter was Black.

Plot

The film tells of novice dancer Irene Foote (Ginger Rogers) who convinces vaudeville comic Vernon Castle (Fred Astaire) to give up slapstick comedy in favor of sophisticated ballroom dancing.

Their big break comes when they are stranded in Paris, along with their friend Walter Ashe (Walter Brennan), with no money. They catch the eye of influential agent Maggie Sutton (Edna May Oliver), who arranges a tryout for them at the prestigious Café de Paris, where they become an overnight sensation. After taking Europe by storm, the Castles return to the United States and become just as big a sensation. Their fame and fortune rises to unprecedented heights in the immediate pre-World War I years.

When Vernon volunteers to join the air force, Irene makes patriotic movie serials to aid the war effort. However, Vernon is killed in a training accident, leaving Irene to carry on alone.

Cast

• Fred Astaire as Vernon Castle
• Ginger Rogers as Irene Castle née Foote
• Edna May Oliver as Maggie Sutton
• Walter Brennan as Walter Ash
• Lew Fields as Lew Fields
• Etienne Girardot as Papa Aubel
• Janet Beecher as Mrs. Foote
• Rolfe Sedan as Emile Aubel
• Leonid Kinskey as Artist
• Robert Strange as Dr. Hubert Foote
• Douglas Walton as Student Pilot
• Clarence Derwent as Papa Louis