Father Geek sees a preview screening of "Dance with Me".
A couple of days ago Harry and I managed to score a handful of free passes to a preview showing of Columbia's new film "Dance with Me". We had been seeing the trailer for several weeks and quite honestly weren't really motivated much to see the flick. Now I like Vanessa Williams in most things, but I had the movie pegged as just a mindless, plotless dance film with its appeal being basically just her and Chayanne's good looks. I could not have been more wrong.
We called around trying to give away some of our extra passes, we had slots for 10 friends. It was a hard sell. Quent showed with Hooper, as did Tom Joad and Annette Kellerman. They joined Harry, me, and Harry's sister Dannie out south at the Cinemark Barton Creek, one of those big, new, stadium seating theaters with state of the art everything, but style. You know the type, tons of screens, lobby like an airplane hanger. No one was looking forward to the movie with much anticipation. In fact Quent had dread in his eyes, Hooper was quiet in the line, unsure why he was really there. I even had to twist Dannie's arm to get her to come. After a half hour wait we are led to our seats, the screening room fails to fill up, not a good sign, but welcomed by us all. We could spread out and get comfortable. Nothing is worse than a bad film in a packed tight theater. Another half hour goes by, the room darkens, and that great Mandalay mascot appears on screen.
OK, I don't want to give any plot away, so you'll just have to take Father Geek's word for it that it's there. No, its not just limited to dancing and sweaty, tightly clothed hard bodies, although there's plenty of that if you're looking for it. There's really 3 sub-plots working in this motion picture, and working is the correct word. Each of the stars; Williams, Chayanne, and Kris Kristoferson have separate, but entwined plot lines that are effective, even emotion stirring. This caught all in our party off guard, it was totally unexpected. The chemistry between the 3 principals and even the excellent supporting cast was outstanding, it pulled us in, and held our interest. Kristoferson was a standout, as he has been in the past from time to time.
All the tech stuff, camera work, lighting, set design, costumes, etc... were flawless, it was a colorful, fanciful, fun flick. I thought the editing was a real star in this motion picture, and motion was what this film was about. The cutting in the club scenes, at the dance school, at the Cuban festival, at the Vegas dance contest was outstanding, filling our eyes and our heads with a kaleidoscope of bodies, color and form.
But what is a musical without dancing, music, and song? Now I don't mean musical in the sense of "Golddiggers of 1933", or "Footlight Parade", or "42nd Street". Those Busby Berkley extravaganzas of 65 years ago with their mountains of Babes moving as one. The inspirations for 10's of thousands of pep squad routines in the intervening years. I don't even mean it in the sense of "Westside Story", or "Grease" their more modern counterpoints. No, I mean musical in the way "Dirty Dancing", "Saturday Night Fever", and "Salsa" were musicals. No character just bursts into song in lew of dialogue as in "Evita". No store clerk or taxi driver suddenly starts dancing like might happen in one of Gene Kelly's films from the 40's or 50's. This film is a celebration of music and dance, very few scenes separate dance numbers. Latin rhythms dominate the sound track. I found my foot constantly keeping the beat, the movie makes you want to dance. In fact I was dancing, in my seat, in my heart. Dozens of world class dancers are in this feature, dancing in pairs, and dancing in large groups, but always within the context of the films story line, always for a reason that makes sense.
When the film ended our row sat there soaking up the end credits music, not wanting it to end. Dannie (age 17) had fallen in love, not with Chayanne, but with the movie, the music. Quent (age 17), who came expecting to hate it, was excited. He had discovered a whole new genre to explore. The same was true for Hooper, the other teen in our group. Our 20 something's, Tom, Annette, and Harry all loved it. And Father Geek (age 53), I consider it one of the best of type in my filmic memory. Go to this movie it will surprise you.
