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

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. The murder was written about in the book "Trophy Kill - The Shall We Dance Murder " by True Crime author "Dan Zupandsky" who interacted with the suspect and in turn became a key role in the investigation. The victim's name was Robin Greene.

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Goofs

When John and Miss Mitzi are dancing at Dr. Dance, they bump into Link and his dance partner. The dance partner has her hair covering her ear (down) in the wide shot, but in the closer shot, her hair is behind her ears.

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Quotes

Paulina: But we began training too hard, pushing each other, expecting too much. Well, we didn't win. Not even close. I came back without my trophy or my partner.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.1 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Sway
(1954)
Written by Norman Gimbel and Pablo Beltrán Ruiz (as Pablo Beltran Ruiz)
Performed by The Pussycat Dolls
Produced by Ron Fair for Faircraft, Inc.
Co-produced, recorded and pro-tools by Tal Herzberg
The Pussycat Dolls appear courtesy of A&M Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

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.