1) This is an American remake of the critically acclaimed 1996 Japanese version. Whoever adopted this film for Hollywood kept much of the cultural and comedic sensibilities of the original. This leads you to a lot of head scratching about many things like, "why'd that person just say that?" or "who cares about ballroom dancing?" but those little questions jolt you out of expecting a typical romantic comedy with all types of the usual mishaps, which is a good thing. You certainly won't be bored. 2) This is not a J-Lo fest. I usually disdain the characters she plays in most of her movies. They usually seem over the top, or totally mismatched to against her ability to play them. (An "Italian" wedding planner with a heart of gold? A hit woman lesbian? A brilliant psychologist? Come on.) But as the soft-spoken yet serious dance instructor in the movie that Gere's character becomes intrigued with, she comes off as beautiful, classy and sweet. Nothing of what you think is going to happen with her does. I'll just leave it at that. The movie mainly focuses on Gere and Sarandon's relationship. 3) None of the most predictable things happen at the end. You know those "competition" movies where the rag tag ensemble group of characters have to overcome their limitations and personal weaknesses to come together to "win the big game" or "bake their asses off in the big bake off" just to prove that hey, all you gotta do is believe? Well this is sort of like that in a way. See, these characters have to "dance their hearts out" at a ballroom dancing competition. But all that other formulaic crap with the expected ending goes out of the window. It's actually interesting the way this plays out... So basically, this is not your ordinary romantic comedy/competition movie, even though a romantic comedy/competition movie is exactly what it is. Richard Gere's character has every thing he wants in life. A stable job a nice family and a wife who is happy with him. But a little thing called "mid-life crisis" plagues him and old Richie's got the blues. :' ( Anyway, while riding on the elevated train in Chicago, he continues to see a lonely looking beautiful woman staring wistfully out the window of a dance studio. He sees this for a while every night, and is intrigued not only because she's really pretty but because she "looks the way [he] feels inside." He gets off at that stop one day on a whim and sees that it's a studio for amateur ballroom dance instruction. He goes inside because of her and gets hustled into buying some dance lessons. Though he really doesn't get to know the pretty lonely lady at first, he stays because of he way dancing makes him feel. The weaknesses of this film might be things in the movie that seem not to be explained. There seemed to be scenes that were probably implanted directly from the Japanese film, yet not fully adaptable for the American viewer's understanding. Either way, it's a cute little movie that you'll probably enjoy even if it is about ballroom dancing. Even if you're a dude who likes to watch people getting shot and blowing stuff up, maybe you need to take a break and watch this movie. Get in touch with your softer side.Read full review
Any movie, whether on DVD or VHS is purchased usually for the entertainment value, isn't it? We can also comment on artistic value, cultural value, educational value, etc. - But, usually, we purchase a movie to escape for awhile, to be entertained. "Shall We Dance?" most certainly reaches that goal. One catches himself/herself tapping a foot...or both...along with the wonderful music choices and delighting in the accomplishment of the lead character, Richard Gere. All of the actors in this movie are excellent and one must share a tear with the private investigator as he watches Gere's ballroom dancing and comments on how beautiful it is. This is a wonderful movie, a pure delight which we've watched many, many times and which will remain in our DVD library.
1) This is an American remake of the critically acclaimed 1996 Japanese version. Whoever adopted this film for Hollywood kept much of the cultural and comedic sensibilities of the original. This leads you to a lot of head scratching about many things like, "why'd that person just say that?" or "who cares about ballroom dancing?" but those little questions jolt you out of expecting a typical romantic comedy with all types of the usual mishaps, which is a good thing. You certainly won't be bored. 2) This is not a J-Lo fest. I usually disdain the characters she plays in most of her movies. They usually seem over the top, or totally mismatched to against her ability to play them. (An "Italian" wedding planner with a heart of gold? A hit woman lesbian? A brilliant psychologist? Come on.) But as the soft-spoken yet serious dance instructor in the movie that Gere's character becomes intrigued with, she comes off as beautiful, classy and sweet. Nothing of what you think is going to happen with her does. I'll just leave it at that. The movie mainly focuses on Gere and Sarandon's relationship. 3) None of the most predictable things happen at the end. You know those "competition" movies where the rag tag ensemble group of characters have to overcome their limitations and personal weaknesses to come together to "win the big game" or "bake their asses off in the big bake off" just to prove that hey, all you gotta do is believe? Well this is sort of like that in a way. See, these characters have to "dance their hearts out" at a ballroom dancing competition. But all that other formulaic crap with the expected ending goes out of the window. It's actually interesting the way this plays out... So basically, this is not your ordinary romantic comedy/competition movie, even though a romantic comedy/competition movie is exactly what it is. Richard Gere's character has every thing he wants in life. A stable job a nice family and a wife who is happy with him. But a little thing called "mid-life crisis" plagues him and old Richie's got the blues. :' ( Anyway, while riding on the elevated train in Chicago, he continues to see a lonely looking beautiful woman staring wistfully out the window of a dance studio. He sees this for a while every night, and is intrigued not only because she's really pretty but because she "looks the way [he] feels inside." He gets off at that stop one day on a whim and sees that it's a studio for amateur ballroom dance instruction. He goes inside because of her and gets hustled into buying some dance lessons. Though he really doesn't get to know the pretty lonely lady at first, he stays because of he way dancing makes him feel. The weaknesses of this film might be things in the movie that seem not to be explained. There seemed to be scenes that were probably implanted directly from the Japanese film, yet not fully adaptable for the American viewer's understanding. Either way, it's a cute little movie that you'll probably enjoy even if it is about ballroom dancing. Even if you're a dude who likes to watch people getting shot and blowing stuff up, maybe you need to take a break and watch this movie. Get in touch with your softer side.Read full review
Here is Richard Gere as a more mature man and displaying his wide range of skill in comedy, drama, and even dancing! A delightful film based on the original Japanese version.
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So here's the story behind Shall We Dance... my girlfriend's mother recommended this movie to us and loaned us her DVD. Apparently it was phenomenal / cute / fun / romantic all rolled into one. So we watched it late one night after work... I'd seriously like those 90 minutes of my life back. This movie is awful. It taught me two basic truths: 1) Don't trust a woman's taste in the movie when Richard Gere is in it because her taste for Richard Gere will automatically override any taste or distate for the movie. Richard Gere = the even-older George Clooney. 2) Don't trust any movie that Jennifer Lopez stars in. Sounds simple - but time after time, people seem to forget JLo's past flops and want to give her another chance. Lord knows why... but they shouldn't. The mixture of Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez is a almost unbeatable. There is no way this movie can get worse right? Then comes Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez... somehow she continues to spiral downwards. So I leave you with this: Shall We Dance? Of Course we shouldn't!Read full review
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