Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Miramax Films
Blu-ray: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
Runtime: 102
Chapters: 16
Size: 50 GB
Case: Locking Blu-ray case
Release date: May 6, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: AVC MPEG-4
Audio:
English 5.1 Uncompressed (48 Khz/24 –bit), English,
French & Spanish 5.1 DD
Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras:
• Audio Commentary with Director Peter Chelsom
• Behind the Scenes of Shall We Dance? (24 min.)
• Beginner's Ballroom (6:30 min)
• The Music of Shall We Dance? (4 min.)
• Deleted Scenes w/ optional commentary
• Pussycat Dolls:
The Film:
6
From his seat on the train he glances up at Miss
Mitzi's Dance studio, John Clark (Richard Gere) is
taken with the sight of Jennifer Lopez staring off
emptily into space from the window. As he tells her
much later in the movie: she looked to him at that
moment how he felt on the inside. Clark is a
successful attorney with a lovely and nurturing wife
(Susan Sarandon) and two teenagers – the younger one
is 14, a girl, and self-involved as is usual for the
breed. I felt it curious – even inconsistent – that
it is she, not her mother, who notices the changes
in her father over the next couple of months.
It wasn't only the need for subtitles or the
relatively subtle dynamics of Masayuki Suo's
original 1996 movie, set in modern day Japan, but
Hollywood's relentless appetite for any idea that it
believes it can turn a profit with. Instead of
leaving well enough alone, the story is transplanted
to Chicago and everything about the original is
suddenly drenched in methamphetamines: the comedy,
the romance, the relationships. As it happens, with
no surprise, the new movie rarely achieves
compelling comedy or romance or relationship stuff,
though it has its moments. In any case, it isn't
either Gere or Lopez who brings off most of what is
enjoyable or meaningful here. It's the supporting
cast.
I like referring to a comment I once heard in a
radio interview by Dustin Hoffman about actors and
directors. (I refer to it so often it is becoming an
embarrassment that I don't recall the source of the
interview.) Hoffman said that actors are generally
good enough these days that the performance on
screen – good and bad – can usually be laid at the
feet of the director. So what should I make of
Gere's wooden performance and Lopez completely
unable to find her character? Neither is helped by
Audrey Wells' free-for-all script that leaps from
pillar to post, despite the overall adherence
(sometimes shot-for-shot) to the basic scenario of
the original. It's not that the characters are
actually complex, it's that they are used carelessly
to make outbursts of whatever is demanded to tickle
this person in the audience or that.
That said, there are several priceless moments:
Sarandon's complicated expression as she watches her
husband ballroom dancing for the first time (though
I felt it was undone by its fulmination in the
parking garage); Omar Miller's appearance with his
"fiancée;" almost everything that Richard Jenkins,
as the detective, does; and Lisa Ann Walter, in
general, among them. Gere does look assured and
alive in his quick-step number with Lisa Ann –
another bit that is stepped on little too hard by a
zealous director. And Lopez, with Gere, does create
a smouldering tango, reminding us of her roots.
Image:
9 (9/9)
The score of 9 indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-ray DVDs. The score
in parentheses represents: first, a value on a
ten-point scale for the image in absolute terms;
and, second, how that image compares to what I
believe is the current best we can expect in the
theatre.
At first blush, and often throughout the movie, the
image is just gorgeous: bold, saturated in deep
reds, sharp. . . dynamic, one might say. As the
camera settles on Richard Gere sitting on the
elevated train on his way home from the office, we
see clearly, alas, the effects of makeup. His face
has a unappealing, pasty look, and his trademark
shock of hair is strangely coarse. Hi-Def tells us
more than what we want to know on the one hand, and
not enough on the other. Hair is probably the one
thing that present DVD technology doesn't quite get
right. If it doesn't appear matted or out of focus,
hair almost always looks like it's been sprayed with
a kind of pixie dust that makes each strand stand
out like fine dreadlocks. Compared to what really
good SD can do with hair (cf: Boston Legal) Blu-ray
isn't really all that much better.
Audio & Music:
9/8
Returning to the opening scene, the first voice we
hear is that of Richard Gere as he reflects on the
philosophy of wills and growth, living and dying.
Mostly the living. I become keenly aware at what a
limited melodic vocabulary has as an actor. On the
other hand I rather like the music adaptation here,
even as compared to the more amateurish (in keeping
with the mood of the piece) Japanese film. It has a
kind of garish quality that totally supports the
production design. The sound mix is excellent and
fills the room with enveloping sex appeal.
Operations:
9
Lots to like here: The menu interface itself is
lovely to look at and the accompanying music hits
just the right note. Each of the menu windows offers
a brief description and times where appropriate.
Best of all, once in a bonus feature, you may choose
to return to the feature film or the main menu. What
more can you ask!
Extras:
5
Right from the first, I liked Peter Chelsom, who had
most recently directed Serendipity. I liked his
openness as he spoke of Miramax's efforts to get him
to sign on as director of a new adaptation of a
modern Japanese classic. In his commentary he talks
about the adaptation and the thinking behind the
various changes required to move the setting to
Chicago. He talks about his characters' motivation,
and how his actors prepared for the dancing, since
most were not experienced dancers. (Jennifer Lopez
is the striking exception.) Yet I could not overcome
my own disconnect between how he saw things and my
own feeling about the movie. As always, your mileage
may differ. The 480i image (4:3 or letterboxed)
varies from scene to scene, most often only fair.
Bottom line:
7
Despite that I don't think all that highly of the
movie, Shall We Dance offers the casual viewer a
good time. The audio, the music and the visuals are
all excellent, so you might want to give it a try.
Leonard Norwitz
May 17, 2008
