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

7 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 middle aged Chicago estate lawyer. He loves his family, which includes his wife Beverly, but their combined busy schedules and getting caught in a rut after two decades of marriage has left him feeling unfulfilled. While taking the el train home every night, he notices the same young, beautiful contemplative woman staring out of one of the windows of Miss Mitzi's Dance Studio, which specializes in ballroom. He is intrigued enough with her beauty and sadness to go in one evening on his way home. He learns that she is Paulina, one of the instructors and a former world class ballroom dancer. Because of her, he signs up for beginner group dance lessons, regardless of them being taught by Miss Mitzi herself, and not Paulina. As time progresses, John gets caught up in the lives of those at Miss Mitzi's: his two fellow classmates - overweight Vern who wants to learn to dance for his upcoming wedding, and Chic, who wants to impress the ladies - and two of the studio's ...

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Plot Keywords:

female butt jiggle | dance | dance studio | woman | dance lesson | 

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Taglines:

Step out of the ordinary

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shall We Dance?

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The filming location was moved to Winnipeg from Toronto because of the SARS "scare" in early 2003.

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Goofs

In the first ballroom lesson Miss Mizzie teaches standard slow waltz mirror-inverted: she teaches "left foot forward, right foot side, right close..." which are ladies 2nd part steps. Men's are "right foot forward, left foot side, right close".

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Quotes

Bobbie: So why did you all start dancing?
Vern: I'm getting married in September. My bride said she'd like to see me lose a few pounds, thought the dancing might be good exercise. I told her it wouldn't work.
[waitress gives him a hamburger and fries]
John Clark: I think you're gonna win that bet.
Chic: I'm here for the ladies, you know what they say about guys that can dance...
Bobbie: Yeah, that they're great in bed.
Chic: Right.
Bobbie: Where do you hear this crap?
Chic: Everywhere, everywhere the guys that can dance get the pick of the litter.
Bobbie: I'm ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Dance Your Ass Off: Shake and Rattle Those Rolls (2009)

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Soundtracks

Shall We Dance?
(1951)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Produced and Arranged by Paul Rabjohns

User Reviews

Shall We Dance

After watching the movie Shall We Dance, I could say its fair enough to compare it to Billy Elliot in the sense that John and Billy were both afraid to tell people they were taking dance lessons. This movie was considered to be a romantic comedy where a bored, overworked Estate Lawyer, upon first sight of a beautiful instructor, signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.

The main character John Clark seems to be having a great relationship with his wife. But he feels like he can not tell his wife about him taking lessons. The reasoning behind this is unclear, but it seems like he will cheat on his wife with the dance instructor. Of course after watching the movie you see he doesn't commit such an act. In the scene where he travels home everyday on the train and passes the dance studio is very affective. We are uncertain if he will follow through and end up taking the lessons.

When John finally starts dance lessons he really isn't that great. He hides it from everyone at home and work. His family starts to see strange behaviors in him, such as peeking in on him in his room and he is dancing around by himself. They are curious to know what he has been up to; his wife goes on and hires a private investigator to see if he is cheating on her. He then follows John and sees he goes to dance classes.

The best scene in the movie is when John has to perform in the dance competition. He realizes he is really good at something and debates sharing it with his family. When his wife and daughter found out, they went to his dance competition. He messed up when he saw them and his daughter yelled "yeah dad." His family then walked out on him and his performance. From that moment he decided he didn't want to dance anymore. His wife wouldn't let him do that because she saw how good he was!