Funny with awesome dance numbers
It is clear that most who reviewed this film know very little about the type of dancing in this movie. No this particular story or dance has not been shown in any movie in quite this way. The movie is based a lot on actual experiences the writer had which was Tom Malloy who portrayed the deaf dancing teacher. Therefore they used real competition dancers throughout the movie. Many of the professional dancers played various parts in different dance numbers and these were the best of the best. Tom Malloy got the idea concerning his character learning there were actual deaf dancers like this and most do turn off their hearing aids while they are dancing as he showed.Many scenes were taken from real life experiences or one's the author was told about like Billy Zane's bag dance which is done at some weddings. There is no major plot except the life of competition dancing for those who do West Coast Swing and the budding romance of the main two characters. Props are not allowed in this type of competition but since it was a film they took some liberties. All of the main dancers are award winning dancers. Nicola Royston is the wife of the man who did the MC part, Robert Royston. He is considered the best West Coast Swing Dancer in the world and she had done stage acting previously. So that was a treat.
This was an Indie film and they struggled even getting the funds to make it and considering who was in it and behind it they did something wonderful. The film was supposed to be where the skyline showed. The fact they filmed much of it in NM isn't relevant. It wasn't a mistake. I absolutely love this film, it is unique. The director actually had a dance background even though he is known for other types of things. Billy Zane was hilarious and did a lot of ad-libs throughout the movie.
Tom Malloy and Amy Smart do almost all their own dancing. He had nine years in West Coast Swing dancing and she actually did have a ballet background from 4 to 14 and after that jazz dancing but not this type. It was only at the end they added in doubles to help the look of the last dance in the competition. Malloy didn't know until they went to film and was a little miffed but it got sorted out. Therefore part of it is Tom and Amy and some the doubles. You see them sitting in the audience earlier in the movie. They are the two sitting where the man tells the woman that Tom's character is deaf. There are parts that removed cues that he was deaf because they went from a long short to close up. As for the phone, his phone may have figuratively had an amplifier in it so he could hear with his hearing aids. Being declared deaf doesn't necessarily mean that one cannot hear. Some hear certain things and not others and some are stone cold deaf. His character was not born deaf nor was all his hearing gone but enough to be declared deaf. He only stated how he knew what the kids were saying. He did not go into any other aspect of the character's hearing or any fixes he had concerning it.
All in all if you know what the movie is about it did what it was designed to do. Some may know Tom Malloy from other films. He was the writer, and producer of the movie The Alphabet Killer and also had an acting part. He also actually does motivational speaking. Get a DVD and listen to the background behind this movie. Love N' Dancing is one of my favorites and I have watched it many times. If you don't like the feel good type of movie that is musical then this wouldn't be your cup of tea, but it is clever and a very entertaining film.
score 8/10
steel_indigo 21 January 2013
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2740505/35533
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