Shall We Dance (2004)

A romantic comedy where a bored, overworked Estate Lawyer, upon first sight of a beautiful instructor, signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.

Director:

Peter Chelsom

Writers:

Masayuki Suo, Audrey Wells (screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	John Clark
Jennifer Lopez	...	Paulina
Susan Sarandon	...	Beverly Clark
Lisa Ann Walter	...	Bobbie
Stanley Tucci	...	Link
Anita Gillette	...	Miss Mitzi
Bobby Cannavale	...	Chic
Omar Benson Miller	...	Vern (as Omar Miller)
Tamara Hope	...	Jenna Clark
Stark Sands	...	Evan Clark
Richard Jenkins	...	Devine
Nick Cannon	...	Scott
Sarah Lafleur	...	Carolyn
Onalee Ames	...	Diane
Diana Salvatore	...	Tina

Storyline

John Clark is a man with a wonderful job, a charming wife and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his commute home, John sees a beautiful woman, staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for dance lessons, hoping to meet her. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina, but the older Miss Mitzi, and John proves just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago's biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his ...

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Plot Keywords:

dance | ballroom dancing | lawyer | love | dance competition | 

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Taglines:

Step out of the ordinary

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [us] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shall We Dance?

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,452,000 (France) (6 May 2005)

Gross:

$47,120,736 (Europe) (3 June 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

About $4,000 worth of jewelry worn by Susan Sarandon during the filming of the movie was stolen and recovered at murder scene in Winnipeg on 4 July 2003. According to news sources, the jewelry was stolen from a vehicle on the movie set and found in a downtown hotel room.

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Goofs

When Evan asks John to go to the bar, John places his hand on Evan's shoulder. In the next shot, both hands are at his side.

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Quotes

Bobbie: ...and stop looking at my ass.
John Clark: I'll try.

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Connections

Referenced in Biography: Richard Gere (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Santa Maria"
(2001)
Written by Philippe Cohen-Solal (as Philippe Maurie Cohen Solal), Christoph H. Müller (as Christoph Hermann Mueller) and Eduardo Makaroff (as Eduardo Anibal Makaroff)
Performed by Gotan Project (as GoTan Project)
Courtesy of Ya Basta and XL Recordings Ltd., Barclay/Universal Music France
Licensed exclusively from Ya Basta! Recordings

User Reviews

Shall We Dance? Of Course !

What a match-up of performers! Richard Gere with Susan Sarandon - very strange initially, but very successful. While we typically identify Mr. Gere with younger, more stereotypically "beautiful" actors, his pairing with Ms. Sarandon was most fitting with his role in this film.

As he attempted to connect with himself, the natural entry of Jennifer Lopez into his life was perfect. It was great to see the two characters go from one end of the spectrum to another - hoping to see it go all the way. While initially disappointing (really wanted to see them together), it was a very do-able end result.

Of course, the dancing and music were a great focal point to the story -I loved seeing Mr. Gere and Ms. Lopez doing their "thing." The statistics of the voting on this site for this film were most puzzling. One can only surmise that there were a great many voters who lack a great deal of romance in their souls. Further, as many voters must have lacked an appreciation of great music and dancing.

Clearly, one of the most enjoyable films of 2004.