Save the Last Dance

It has all the elements of your typical teen film: young love, dance clubs, "hip" lingo, and of course, commentary on race relations. These things combine to form a typically mediocre film, one that could have used more edge. But, in its efforst to appeal to all audiences, Save the Last Dance instead just comes off as... typical.

The film's script comes dangerously close to stereotypes and is full of cliche. The African American men are packin' heat, the white girl does ballet, and the African American woman is a single mother. No commentary by me, just an observation of mine concerning the cliche that has formed in your standard race relations film. When it's exposed that Mikal is carrying a gun, I was expecting it, as I was expecting the primary African American character to be a single mother. Films like this aren't adventurous, they go with what's been prove to be financially successful in previous films.

Julia Stiles plays Sara, a young girl shattered by tragedy and basically forced to move somewhere she doesn't fit in. Indeed, she becomes the first white girl aenrolled at the high school, and instantly gets to be a focus of attention for men and women. The women despise her as one of the most promising men at their school starts to fall for her. This promising man is Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas). Derek has the high aspirations to be a doctor, but sometimes gets mixed up in some things that could impede his progress. Save the Last Dance is about their struggle to be together and once they're a couple, it's about the conflict over the perception of their interracial relationship.

Sound complex? Well, it's not really. Keeping the film afloat, however, are the two charismatic leads and their mostly believable chemistry. Their affections translate successfully, but their distress does not. I can't imagine anyone but Julia Stiles in this role, mostly because she's been doing basically the same part for years.

The film has some energy during the dance scenes, whether at rehearsal or at the dance club. It's perhaps because of the thumping music, but probably because of the capable dancing of the crowd. The crowd control for the dance club scenes is actually pretty good, enabling the audience to really see when it gets out of hand.

Save the Last Dance does nothing new and never gets boring or completely grasps our attention. It's a sufficiently mediocre movie that doesn't tackle too much controversy. Maybe it's better for it.

On a scale of 1 to 10 dancing primadonnas : 5