Save The Last Dance

View Date: February 10th, 2001

Cast :

Writer: Duane Adler  

Director: Thomas Carter 

The conclusion of a movie can serve multiple purposes, but ultimately, it should resolve and conclude the film’s message, using what the viewers been given, and hammer home the filmmakers desired intent.  If a suspense/thriller, then the viewer should feel all knotted up, but satisfied with the resolution, if it’s a love story, then the viewer should feel all happy and mushy inside.  Save The Last Dance follows conventional steps and weaves an interesting emotional tale on it’s way to an ending that will leave those who let it inside, dancing, happy, sad, smiling, or at least feeling that they got their money’s worth.  The last movie that made me feel this way was Dirty Dancing.  It too was a movie that I wasn’t really hyped about seeing, but by the time it was done, was dancing, singing and feeling a warm happy sensation throughout my body. If this movie doesn’t do that, then you should head in for a check-up to see if you still have a heart that can love.

This isn’t as much a progressive story, as it is a journey of discovery and realization regarding love, dreams and the real world.  Sara is a gifted ballet dancer whose dreams are shattered on her most important day.  She ends up in the inner city with her father, who has been mostly absent during her formulative years.  At her new school, she is a minority amidst a sea of stereotypical, but believable kids.  There is the requisite bonding, acceptance, jealousy, and the ultimate focus, a romance with a fellow intellectual who also has dreams.  Their bond and romance is the movie’s main focus, and the chemistry of the performers is why the movie works amidst its generalities.  All of the required storylines make an appearance, including the courting, the establishment of goals, the problems, the realizations, and the ultimate resolution.  Why this film works over others lies solely on the shoulders of Stiles and Thomas who carry this film through its predictable circumstances, to a rousing conclusion.  There are scenes of sadness, scenes of respect, scenes of happiness, and a spirit of pure energy that run consistently through the film.  Each of the scenes serve to contribute to the power of a conclusion that brings everything together in a sensible, effective manner.  Each piece of the puzzle fits to embed the power of the film deeper into our soul.  The scenes of Stiles and her father, the confessional scene between Thomas and Stiles, and the various instances where their love and chemistry is so artfully depicted, lend a long lost credence to Hollywood’s ability to make a feel-good, innocent, yet powerful and effective movie, without the use of big name stars, big budgets, or a script that would give Cupid a cavity. 

As an actress, Julia Stiles is making a name for herself by not conforming completely to the typical brainless teen films which seem to overload theaters in an effort to make a quick buck and then head for video.  She has always chosen products that combine the energy and spirit of youth, with just enough of an intelligent edge so as to not come off as sappy.  Once again, she combines innocence and vulnerability with a spunk and intellectual touch that makes her standout amongst her peers.  She blends together perfectly with Thomas, whose previous screen presence consisted of cameos and small roles (including Cruel Intentions and Can't Hardly Wait.)  He gets the chance to branch out and expand his abilities, and he does so with relaxed and confident ease.  Together, they are indeed what makes this movie work, without them, or with lesser actors, this would have been another throwaway teen love story, with them, it's truly something wonderful.