Masayuki Suo’s
wonderful 1996 fable “Shall We Dance?” won the hearts of audiences and
critics alike from Asia to America. For a brief time,
in the days before “Life is Beautiful,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon” and “Hero,” it was one of the most profitable foreign films
ever released in this country, its mix of comedy, drama, charm and
social commentary simply intoxicating.
But like so
many movies from outside the United States, it is a film distinctly
characteristic of its parent country. It is the story of a working
class Japanese man overcome by the feeling something is missing in his
life and whom takes up dancing to fill the void, discovering something
wonderful and emotionally expressionistic about himself in the
process. The thing is, part of the movie’s resonating journey is
watching the central character burst forth from the rigid social
status quo where public displays of joy, affection and emotion are
looked down upon. Not exactly something Americans usually have to deal
with. Finding joys in life’s pursuits and being able expressively
display them publicly is part of what makes the United States what it
is. So how do you remake such a tale? Better yet, why do you,
especially when the original so beautifully explored the profound joy
of dance so exuberantly the first time.
Well,
“Serendipity” director Peter Chelsom and “The Truth About Cats and
Dogs” writer Audrey Wells try anyhow, re-imagining “Shall We Dance?”
for an American audience yet still managing to retain the original’s
effervescent love affair with the world of dance. Unsurprisingly, it
doesn’t come close to the sublime perfection of Suo’s film. There is
still much charm to be, however, this new version a beguiling
tap-dance of romance and triumph of the human spirit.
The focus this
time is on successful Chicago attorney John Clark (Richard Gere), a
loving father of two married to equally successful businesswoman
Beverly (Susan Sarandon). But something is missing in his life, the
workday becoming a tired routine of been there/done that while time at
home drifts into a stale pattern of habit. And while John wouldn’t
change his family or being with them for all the bricks in China, he
still can’t shake the feeling of uneasy malaise; wondering if this is
all there is to life, if all his brightest days are long behind him.
During the
evening commute he spies out of his train window a sad, beautiful
dance instructor (Jennifer Lopez) staring off into the distance. Night
in and night out she stands at the window of Mitzi’s Dance Studio, and
John can’t help but wonder what it is that keeps drawing her gaze. And
so he does the unthinkable, leaping off the train and into the studio
discovering a world he never even knew existed. Not sure why he’s
really there, the attorney starts taking beginner lessons with Miss
Mitzi (Anita Gilette) herself, joining two other students to explore
all the possibilities Ballroom Dance has to offer. Suddenly, John
begins to find felicity in the subtle movements of the dance and it
quickly becomes an obsession and a means of pure joy.
But what of
his family? Beverly becomes worried her husband might be spending his
weekday nights in the arms of another, even hiring a pair of private
detectives (Richard Jenkins and Nick Cannon) to monitor his movements.
John on the other hand becomes more and more alive with every dance
step he learns, yet also more and more ashamed because of his
inability to share this newfound pleasure with his wife. He’s worried
she won’t understand, scared Beverly will think he’s unhappy with her
and their marriage. He’s not, but he still can’t bring himself to say
it to her out loud, and with all this secrecy acting against him John
could unwittingly be putting his cherished union in mortal jeopardy.
“Shall We
Dance?” is utterly agreeable on many levels. Sure, it’s really nothing
more than an elongated sitcom, but even then it’s a remarkably
entertaining one. Chiefly responsible for this is Gere. His talent
never in doubt, Gere’s judgement has been markedly suspect over the
decades. From the heights of “Days of Heaven,” “Pretty Woman” and
“Chicago” to the depths of “Breathless” (a misguided remake if there
ever was one), “Power” and “No Mercy,” few actors have had such a
widely uneven career and lived to talk about it. Now, twenty-six years
after his theatrical debut, Gere gives what just might be his most
bewitching performance to date, enlivening a picture to heights it
would not have achieved without him.
The rest of
the cast is almost equal to the task. Sarandon is luminous as ever,
even if her role is nothing more than a throwaway. Jenkins brings a
sly, world-weary warmth to his few scenes, while television veteran
Lisa Ann Walter almost walks away with the picture portraying a
haggard single mother doggedly trying to become a dancer while keeping
her acerbic wits acidly intact. Best of all is the great Stanley
Tucci, throwing himself headlong in the role of a co-worker of Clark’s
whose clandestine love affair with dance throws him into one of the
most absurdly surrealistic masquerades imaginable. Tucci is fearless
in the part, unafraid to be either the brunt of merciless comeuppance
or unfortunate happenstance. And, in what may be the film’s single
best scene, Tucci encapsulates beautifully the enthrallingly seductive
nature of dancing, and he does it in all of about four-and-a-half
seconds of screen time.
Still, Wells'
script is far from perfect. The moments with Sarandon’s tiresome
co-workers are trying, and Lopez’s character remains nothing more than
a beautiful enigma from start to finish. Missing is the unspoken
connection between student and teacher which passed so elegantly in
the original, a love affair not so much of the body but of the spirit
that reawakened the thirst for life’s pleasures in both. In Gere, I
bought this transformation but with Lopez it never materializes. Not
that the actress-singer-dancer helps much, speaking her lines with a
sing-song breathiness that would have made even Marilyn Monroe cringe.
Sure, Lopez is lovely to look at and she glides across a dance floor
second to none, but this isn’t remotely her best work and the movie
suffers because of it.
