| Far less magic and tension is found at the conclusion of Take the Lead. This film has little patience for all that serious semi-finals stuff and, through the magic of Hollywood, plunges the under-equipped dancing delinquents smack dab in the middle of a very fancy and elegant professional ballroom dancers competition! Preceding this scene, one of the tough street-wise hoods-turned-dancer wrestles with his conscience: should he stay with his friends who, with him, are planning a major burglary, or leave them to rob the warehouse on their own so he can attend the big dance competition, where his dancing partner (an equally hardened but beautiful street girl whom he has a crush on) awaits him? Decisions, decisions... Well, it probably comes as no surprise that his heart wins out, and he shows up in the nick of time to take the floor with her. Of course, neither they nor the other students can compete at the level of the pros, so they do what any other inner-city kids would do suffering the same predicament-throw those ballroom dancing lessons out the window and switch to hip-hop! Needless to say, Take the Lead proposes that the conservative ballroom dance audience is amazed and energized, and the kids are a hit. Please. |
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| If you're looking for a charming, sometimes hilarious, always captivating celebration of childhood, community, music and movement as seen through the eyes of today's kids, Mad Hot Ballroom is for you. |
| If you're looking for a poor man's musicalized version of Dangerous Minds, or want to watch Antonio Banderas for a while, give Take the Lead a spin. More than likely, you'll find an ample supply of its unrented DVD's at your local video store. |
| Continued..... |
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