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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"It's not true that I don't want anything", 21 Jul 2005
But before John Clark (Richard Gere) discovers his love for dancing, the statement above is pretty accurate. He is a lawyer that goes through the same routine each day, and is almost in a state of stupor, until one day, riding the train home, he sees a woman at a window looking out with a forlorn expression. After that, he is hooked, and has to go there and start attending dancing lessons to find more about this mysterious femme. Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) is an instructor at the dancing studio, and lives a frustrated life ever since she was dumped by her dancing partner / lover at the summit of her career, when she was about to compete in Blackwood, the most prestigious dancing competition in the world.John is married, and even though the relationship with Paulina starts out as a professional one, there is a sense that he is cheating on Beverly (Susan Sarandon). Therefore, he starts hiding his new activity from his family and only gets to share his secret with Link (Stanley Tucci), a co-worker who leads a double life as serious lawyer during the day and a dance machine at night. With this basic set up, the movie succeeds in entertaining through a combination of elements. First, we have the unanswered question of what is going to happen between John and Paulina. Second, the variety of personalities depicted through the different characters allow for a myriad of interesting and funny dialogues. Third, the well choreographed dances allow us to enjoy the music and the artistry of several of the scenes. Finally, even though I found that Gere, Lopez and Sarandon were proficient in their roles, I have to mention Tucci as the actor that should take most of the credit for my enjoyment of this movie. He is perfect for the role he plays and every time he shows up on the screen you know that you will be laughing out loud soon. I have not watched the original Japanese version of this movie, so I have no basis for a comparison in that regard. But I do know that even though this is not a masterpiece, which by the way I do not think it is intended to be, it does deliver what it promises: an enjoyable couple of hours. When comparing it with other movies within the genre, like "Dance with me", with Chayanne and Williams, I believe that this one comes clearly on top.
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