Save The Last Dance Dvd [2001]

"... Dance" stumbles into a few too many subplots and a couple of cliched characters along the way. But it also makes some strong points about contemporary attitudes toward interracial romances. In Sydney Poitier's now seemingly quaint "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" the idea of an African-American man dating a white woman still had shock value. But "... Dance" asks us how far have we come, and how much further do we have to go.

The movie begins with Sara (Julia Stiles), an ex-dancer who once dreamed of attending Juilliard. She still grieves over the death of her mother and struggles to make a new home for herself in the slum-like apartment of her estranged dad (Terry Kinney, whose character seems so potentially rich, it's a shame it's not more developed). One of the very few white students in her new school, Sara is immediately out of place, especially after she's defeated in a debate in her English class by the well-read Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas). Eventually, the two overcome their differences thanks to their love of dance.

The screenplay mercifully sidesteps the cliché trap of dwelling on Sara's ignorance of hip-hop culture: Clearly, this isn't a film about how the out-of-it white girl learned to conquor the moves. Rather, Sara finds her niche and footing rather quickly instead of turning into a clueless nerd.

Who would believe that Stiles needed rescuing? Her face looks fragile, but her eyes show she has a keen understanding of everything around her. At only 18 years of age, the actress projects insights of someone much older. Stiles is well matched with Thomas, who almost has the presence of a young Sidney Poitier. Also his elastic body is like a young Bobby Brown. Thomas is shorter than Stiles -- another interesting choice by the filmmaker. But the characters seem to be on the same plane intellectually and in terms of their goals: Dedrek has his heart set on attending Georgetown to become a doctor.

One great moment that demolishes a stereotype is when Derek tells Sara of his wanting to become a pediatrician because he likes kids. Sara gingerly asks him if he has any of his own kids. "No!" Derek replies, slightly offended. "Do you?!"

Most of her classmates don't see Sara as a threat, at first. But things change when she and Derek begin to fall in love. Even Derek's sister Chenille (Kerry Washington), who's been Sara's loyal friend up until this point, becomes a bit chilly.

Chenille is bitter about the careless attitudes of so many of the men she's known. She's already had a child with a boyfriend who barely takes the time to drop by and see his son and her now. But Chenille's proud of her brother's achievements and ambitions, and becomes upset that he's attracted to a white woman. In a scathing speech that she will later regret, she lays everything out for Sara, expressing things that a lot of women in her situation may feel but never get to say it. Sara becomes just another white girl who thinks she can come into the 'hood and steal (from the black women) the best man that she finds.

Derek's friends accuse him of "snowflaking" and warn him that it won't last. Alas, we never find out how Sara's dad feels about Sara dating Derek, but she doesn't seem to be in a hurry to introduce the two men. Maybe that's supposed to tell us that there might be a problem. We're left guissing. When Sara tries to discuss with Derek the controversy they've caused she says, "We spend more time defending our relationship than we spend having a relationship." Director Carter approaches Sara and Derek's relationship with uncertainty. It's a smart approach to take in a nation that endorses diversity more readily in public than it does at home.

"Save the Last Dance" has a fair amount of choreography. Stiles and Thomas seem to perform most of their own dances, and they're both pretty good at it (although body double dance pros take over the complicated moves). Unlike various breakdancing extravaganzas of the mid-1980s, this movie doesn't come to a stand still when the music stops playing. Even by taking the dancing out of the film, there'd still be left a well-acted, thought-provoking story. Few musicals can accomplish that.

Aside from weakness in its too many sub-plot and a few clichés here and there, "Save the Last Dance" does many other things right. The complicated friendship between Sara and charismatic Chenille is nicely resolved at the very end under the closing credits, when it's the girls who are dancing together, joyous in their shared love of music.