“Take The Lead”

By Joey Airdo

“Take The Lead” has an interesting concept but we’ve seen it before in countless other inspirational flicks. Unfortunately, the one thing that could have made this particular version stand out, the development of real characters, is the one thing the movie doesn’t have.

Inspired by a true story that was the subject of last year’s documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom Dancing,” “Take The Lead” stars Antonio Balderas as dancing instructor Pierre Dulaine. When Mr. Dulaine witnesses an act of vandalism, he applies to an urban high school in hopes of volunteering by teaching kids ballroom dancing steps.

The school’s principal, played by Alfre Woodard scoffs at Mr. Dulaine’s idea for teaching her students discipline and places him in the basement of the school as the host of detention. Once there, Mr. Dulaine uses ballroom dancing lessons as a means of building character in the most delinquent students in the school.

He is able to get through to the students and build character but the writers are not nearly as skillful. The very troublemakers the movie transforms into upstanding young citizens are portrayed by stereotypes. Rather than shaping a small group of memorable faces into characters with real personalities and authentic problems, “Take The Lead” follows a larger group of indistinguishable faces into stereotypes with generalized personalities and counterfeit problems.

This not only undermines the movie’s credibility but it also deals a hard blow to the entertainment value of the whole flick. If there is no one to identify with and trail as the movie progresses, there is a distinct lack of personal involvement necessary to make the movie enjoyable.

One moment near the beginning that features one of Mr. Dulaine’s first interactions with a student from the school is an exemption to the rest of the movie’s weaknesses. The moment occurs while Mr. Dulaine is waiting to speak with the school’s principal. Mr. Dulaine keeps opening the door for random people and they smile at him. A student waiting in the office as well notices this, criticizes him for it, and then tries it out for himself prompting the principal to tell him to sit down.

This sweet moment starts the movie off strong but all hopes for the feature to follow down this path are quickly lost. “Take The Lead” does not have enough of these kinds of moments, which made me smile and chuckle. We are stuck with tired scenes of Mr. Dulaine giving cheesy speeches and the kids rebelling then warming up to the lessons.

The dancing is impressive – especially the Tango which features Jenna Dewan of “Tamara.” Yet, it is not enough for me to recommend seeing the movie. If you are in the mood for a movie about ballroom dancing, rent “Shall We Dance.” “Take The Lead” just doesn’t have all the right steps.

I give “Take The Lead” 2 kernels. It is rated (PG-13).

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