Dance Movies

Shall We Dance? is an American motion picture released in 2004. It is a remake of the award-winning Masayuki Suo 1996 Japanese film, Shall We Dansu?.

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