Save the Last Dance

Availability

Switchbucs	Switcher	Switches	Switcher Rating
16	mlaisure Disc	194	77	[ Buy It ] [ View Notes ]
	Watched once. Like new condition.
8	kmzintel Disc	113	63	[ Buy It ] [ View Notes ]
	Will ship in a clamshell case.

These members have it but are not switching it at this time AmandaJo,  Lion-O,  ShiftDirector,  alaskajdb,  badpepper,  bmlturtle,  ptobery,  victorblake

Theatrical Release

November 30, 1999

DVD Release

January 1, 2001

Studio

Paramount

Rated

PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Directors

Actors

Julia Stiles, Terry Kinney

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Currently selling for $8.94 NEW at Amazon.com

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Formats

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• Subtitled
• Widescreen
• NTSC

Additional Information

Save the Last Dance enjoyed a profitable release in early 2001, with box-office earnings that exceeded anyone's expectations. Its performance illustrates the staying power of a formulaic movie that avoids the pitfalls and clichés that would otherwise render it forgettable. Since there's nothing new here, you'll appreciate the original quirks in a character-based plot that's just around the corner from Flashdance, and just as familiar. Sara (Julia Stiles) gave up a promising ballet career when her mother was killed while rushing to attend her daughter's crucial audition to Juilliard; Sara blames herself for the accident, and at her new, mostly African American high school in Chicago, she's uncertain of her future.

Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) has no such doubts; his own future is bright, and his attraction to Sara is immediate; they connect (predictably), and Sara's dormant funk emerges, with Derek's coaching, as she learns hip-hop dancing in a local club. Obligatory subplots are equally routine: Derek's sister (Kerry Washington) is a single mom struggling with her child's absentee father; Derek's best friend (Fredro Starr) feels trapped in his gangsta lifestyle; and Sara's once-estranged father (Terry Kinney) is doing his best to correct past mistakes. Within the confines of this standard follow-your-dream drama, director Thomas Carter capitalizes on a script that allows these characters to be real, intelligent, and thoughtful about their lives and their futures. It's obvious that Stiles's dancing was intercut with that of a professional double, but that illusion hardly matters when the rest of the movie's so earnestly positive and genuine. --Jeff Shannon - Amazon.com