Commendable introduction to West Coast Swing
Having been a West Coast Swing dancer for 5 years in the UK, it was great to finally see this film in a cinema in San Diego across from the annual Swing Diego dance convention. Anticipation has been high for this film over the last year or so, which has been given a limited cinema release. In the UK, it has only been available on satellite through Sky, so it was nice to catch it in a proper cinematic environment.Devotees of the dance style will have a ball spotting some of their favourite pros in some sequences. The likes of Ronnie Debennetta, Brandi Tobias, Jordan Frisbee, Tatiana Mollmann, Parker Dearborn, Jessica Cox and others who work and teach tirelessly during the calendar year at events both US and Internationally serve as competent supporting players in a movie in the style of STRICTLY BALLROOM.
Tom Malloy plays a former US Swing champion who gives a lecture on disability to a school and reveals his talent to a class of students. A teacher at the school wants to sign up her fiancé for dance lessons, but his devotion to the deal rather than her prompts her to follow through herself.
Robert Iscove, who directed SHE'S ALL THAT (memorable for the prom dance to Fatboy Slim and who has a long history of dance choreography) does admirably and refreshingly the issue of deafness in an individual is sensitively handled. The dance sequences are staged well and the more astute amongst WCS dancers keen to see the style portrayed in cinematic form will not be disappointed.
Hopefully, this will be the start-off point for more films along the same lines.
score 7/10
templer_doom-1 19 May 2009
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2068605/35533
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