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:

dance instructor | 2000s | dance class | middle aged couple | middle aged man | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

During his visit to India for an AIDS awareness event in 2007, Gere danced with Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on stage, performing his ballroom dance routine from this movie. He ended it by kissing Shetty on the cheek. People in India were enraged and protested against the act saying it went against their culture. Shortly after, a court issued an arrest warrant for both Gere and Shetty for public obscenity.

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Goofs

When John and Link are heading out of the office on the evening of the final dance party, Link takes the escalator. Just before Link gets on, a gentleman talking on a cell phone does. The next shot from below, the gentleman on the phone has his hand in his pocket.

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Quotes

Paulina: The rumba is the vertical expression of a horizontal wish. You have to hold her, like the skin on her thigh is your reason for living. Let her go, like your heart's being ripped from your chest. Throw her back, like you're going to have your way with her right here on the dance floor. And then finish, like she's ruined you for life.
Bobbie: [looking up from the floor] Yeah, why can't you do it like that?

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Connections

Features The Band Wagon (1953)

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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

Enjoyable but Forgettable

Shall We Dance doesn't break any new ground but those who just want a good time will find it with this film. Richard Gere plays John Clark, a lawyer who feels the need to spice up his stagnating marriage (to Susan Sarandon, no less) by taking ballroom dance lessons from a beautiful and mysterious younger woman (Jennifer Lopez). The plot is okay it just sounds kind of boring. The movie for the most part isn't boring. Its actually quite entertaining. I have never seen the original so I can't compare the two but the original is probably better. I was expecting this film to be horrible as the trailer and early buzz weren't that good but they must have fixed the problems. The cast is pretty good with the best being Susan Sarandon. She does a very good job and she has a fair amount of screen time. Richard Gere does a good job playing John, nothing great but nothing terrible either. Jennifer Lopez's performance isn't very strong and the role didn't really seem to fit her. She gets by with an average performance though. The rest of the supporting cast are very funny and they keep this film moving. Out of all of them, Stanley Tucci was probably the best as Link. His performance of trying to be a young dancer was very funny. There are other interesting characters as well that are in the dance school and are fun to watch them. Peter Chelsom directs and he sure knows how to make this type of film work as he directed the very entertaining Serendipity. The only problem with this film is that its too predictable. Its very by the numbers and doesn't even try to stray away from the familiar path that most romantic comedies take. There was also a lack of chemistry between Lopez and Gere so there scenes together weren't very good or interesting. The running time of 106 minutes goes by fast. The dancing itself was actually pretty good. It wasn't the best but it wasn't terrible either. In the end, this is better then most romantic comedies that have come out in the past year and this film can be enjoyed if your just looking for a good time. Rating 7/10, entertaining but forgettable.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

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 USA:

$11,600,000, 17 October 2004

Gross USA:

$57,890,460

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$170,128,460

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1