Film Reviews

Take the Lead

• Rating:
• Director: Liz Friedlander.
• Starring: Antonio Banderas, Ray Liotta, Dante Basco, Rob Brown.
• Details: US, 108mins, 15s.

Pierre Dulaine (Banderas) is an internationally acclaimed former professional dancer who volunteers to teach classical dance in the New York public schools system. With his streetwise, petty crime indulgent students more interested in Fiddy Cent than the foxtrot, the task ahead of him seems overwhelming but Dulaine, clever man that he is, meets them halfway by inventing a totally new dance craze that mixes Gershwin and Breakdancing and the Tango and Hip-Hop and who knows what else to compete in a city-wide championship. Initially sceptical, the students are soon on board and give all they got to win that coveted trophy. Given the same Heartland award as the Oscar winning Tsotsi for 'artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life', Take The Lead is a feel good family movie that will get your feet tapping and just might ignite a thirst for classical dance. Mixing Dangerous Minds with Dirty Dancing and last year's documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, Take The Lead, at times, feels just like that - an amalgamation of three films … and three films you've seen before. There is nothing new or fresh happening here but first time director Liz Friedlander must be given kudos for handling the proceedings with confidence. Banderas is back on form in what may be his first hit (barring his voice in Shrek 2) in eight years, shaking his maracas as if his career depended on it; he just might get your castanets clicking.

Review by Gavin Burke