Before Take the lead

There's a lot to say about this film... but most of it's not good.
So many films about dancing, and so many with the same theme. All old musicals have this kinda idea about them. Fred Astaire was constantly trying to mix up tap dancing will ballet and ballroom dancing. The idea about mixing together different styles of music isn't new. Why Baz Luhrmann who as we know is capable of making very good films (Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet) had to make this film is beyond me.

Synopsis
A ballroom dancer in Australia wants to try and fuse the ballroom steps with other styles of dancing and of course it is a massive scandal. No one would ever allow modern dancing to interfere with the art of ballroom dancing. Unfortunately he knows nothing about rhythm and the reason why his mixture of dancing is a mess is because he's out of time. His dance partner refuses to dance with him because his dancing wont win competitions, which is what dancing is all about (apparently). He gets a new partner who's a beginner and also latino. Her family teach them about rhythm and ultimately make them better dancers. They go to the competition and dance their way, no matter how hard the judges try to make them stop.


If you're into dancing films, then Take The Lead with Antonio Banderas is a much better film experimenting with the same thing. Incorporating street and hip hop dancing with ballroom dancing and they do it very effectively. They have a sense of rhythm and make it interesting which Baz fails to do.
I know that this was made before Take the Lead, but Take the lead is such a good film and strictly ballroom really isn't. You can buy it as part of a box set and to be fair, it's not as bad as Australia, Jumper or the Golden Compass... so it's not the worst deal in the world. Buying it in a box set is good cos you get moulin rouge and Romeo and Juliet which are actually worth paying for. I wouldn't recommend that you go out of your way to get hold of this film and watch it... it's not worth it. I've no idea why they made a musical of this film!