Take The Lead

Rating: PG - Contains Adult Themes.
Duration: 115 mins.
Genre: Drama, Music, Dance.
Actors: Ray Liotta, Alfre Woodard, Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Dante Basco, Jenna Dewan, Lyriq Bent, Dianne Houston, Laura Benanti, John Ortiz, Yaya Da Costa.
Release Date: Available Now.

Inspired by a true story often sends shivers down my back these days, as there’s been way too many movies that take a pinch of reality and then consume it with fiction, creating a movie that promises you one thing but delivers another.

Take the lead is slightly different. It takes a defining moment in someone’s life and weaves a story around it that is filled with sexy ballroom dancing and classic love ballads smashed against the hardened hip hop beats and street attitudes of a group of dysfunctional high school delinquents.

The truth of the story is that dance instructor Pierre Dulaine (played by Antonio Banderas) decided to help out at an inner city high school, presumably to fill a void left in his life by the death of his wife five years previously, and seeing no use for his skills, the hard nosed principle sends him to look after the usual suspects in lunchtime suspension.

I say usual suspects as this movie has many subplots looking at the lives of the kids being saved, that are as cheesy and predictable as they come – and they may be true stories, but we already know that there lives are crap, so spare us the usual clichéd details – the real problem with these side stories is that they get in the way of what this movie really excels at, and that’s the dancing and music.

It’s pure popcorn all the way, so having more dancing and less side plot would make it all the more entertaining. As it is, the grand finale dance competition brings the show to a close with a whole heap of visual enjoyment that closes the movie on a high note.

A visual and auditory feast, Take The Lead also has some great performances by Antonio Banderas and Desperate Housewives’ Alfre Woodard. All in al a very pleasurable couple of hours.

Food for thought:
Is the power with the person who leads or with the person who follows?

Rent or Buy?
If you like sensual dancing mixed with some youthful urban influence, they you’ll probably want to watch this more than once.