Save the Last Dance (2001)
Directed by Thomas Carter
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
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What critics compared Save the Last Dance to
Some of this is roundabout, as Tiffany exacts a promise from Pat to be her partner in a dance contest, which means they spend hours rehearsing and sweating and pondering, never very good at what they do, even as they might be engendering fond memories for Veronica, or any of us who remember an earlier incarnation of Stiles doing just this, in the sublimely silly Save the Last Dance.
Ford needs the support of his loyal buddies Val (Will Yun Lee, "Die Another Day") and Dalton (Jay Hernandez, "Crazy/Beautiful") after Henry sets him up for the murder of rival Reaper leader Trey's (Ice Cube, "Barbershop") brother Junior (Fredro Starr, "Save the Last Dance").
Duane Adler co-wrote Save the Last Dance, in which Julia Stiles learnt to dance like a black girl from her boyfriend, played by Sean Patrick Thomas.
Assisting her in that task is Duane Adler (“Save the Last Dance”) and Melissa Rosenberg, whose script is so rote, it's difficult not to watch this movie wondering how a film about taking risks could be so unwilling to take a few of its own.
Sadly, the concept of the hip, tough guy with a troubled past who picked up his moves from the street teaching the pristine, prissy girl to loosen up and feel the music is such a tired premise, it's a drag to even have to mention other, better films like 2001's Save the Last Dance, wherein Julia Stiles used streets beats to dance her way into a Julliard audition, or even Dirty Dancing, which had way more memorable lines (“Nobody puts baby in the corner!”).
It's no accident that the credits for the movie are a Who's Who of dance movie alumni: Director Anne Fletcher choreographed "Bring It On"; screenwriter Duane Adler penned "Save The Last Dance"; and the movie was photographed by Michael Seresin, who shot "Fame."
That’s more than we can say for the script, which was co-written by Duane Adler — who also wrote “Save the Last Dance,” yet another film that “Step Up” so obviously resembles — and Melissa Rosenberg.
If she does her due diligence in this regard, screenwriters Duane Adler (2001's " Save the Last Dance ") and Melissa Rosenberg (who would go on to adapt the " Twilight " series) are responsible for mucking things up with a script that couldn't be more predictable and derivative if it tried.
But Jackson's rock-solid performance and a few unexpected plot developments turn "Carter" into a generally compelling piece that may become the same kind of crowd-pleaser as the director's "Save the Last Dance."
Director Thomas Carter handles the film as adeptly as his previous coming-of-age feature, the 2001 hit "Save the Last Dance."
Thomas Carter (Save the Last Dance) directed.
What doesn't work is the plodding pace director Thomas Carter ("Save the Last Dance") sets.
These days, Carter is best known as an Emmy-winning TV director ("Don King: Only in America") who scored a big-screen breakthough in 2001 with "Save the Last Dance," another teen-themed drama with a strong follow-your-heart message.
It's telling that the film's director, Thomas Carter ("Save the Last Dance''), was one of the young stars of "The White Shadow.''