Review of Save The Last Dance

Introduction

Save The Last Dance is an interesting film. Julia Stiles plays Sara who has to go live with her Dad (Terry Kinney) in an alien and rough neighbourhood on Chicago`s south side. Here she goes to a school where most of the students are black, and this is where some of the interesting story starts. Julia is a fish out of water trying to get to grips with her mother`s death, her `new` relationship with her father, and trying to get along with the other students too. The one thing in common between them is dance. As the relationships form, Julia and Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) find themselves attracted to each other and the racial tension begins.

This is a testing time as we see the conflict between characters in the story. This isn`t an issue of race, more it`s an issue of human relationships.

Video

This DVD has a very good 1.85:1 anamorphic video transfer which has well balanced colours and contrast throughout with deep blacks and high levels of detail. The film is visually quite stylish too. The location of Chicago looks like a good choice as we`re not bombarded with the same images of a million films made in L.A. It just looks interesting and helps to keep the story moving. I noticed one or two minor problems with the encoding on fast moving objects against light backgrounds but this is minor and doesn`t detract from the film. All the dancing looks good and I couldn`t spot any other problems at all with the film transfer.

Audio

There`s just a 5.1 DD soundtrack and this works well. There`s a wide soundstage and it does sound particularly good with music blasting nice and loud and has good bass response. The dialogue comes across quite clearly, though if you don`t know all the slang you may find yourself reaching for the subtitles! Thankfully not a lot of this going on. Mark Isham`s score is subtle and blends in well with the film lending the right amount of emotion. I can`t help but wonder if the original DTS soundtrack from the film would have sounded that bit more punchier with all the music in the film. As it is we`re not losing out in terms of regional differences.

Features

We`re hit with quite a nice animated menu at the start with music. In the Special Features menu we get Director Commentary with Thomas Carter, deleted scenes, The Making of Save The Last Dance, cast and crew interviews, the "Crazy" music video and the theatrical trailer.

Director Commentary with Thomas Carter is pretty interesting. A lot of what he has to say really fleshes out more of the ideas in the film and reinforces certain thoughts of youth, relationships and in particular interracial relationships. We also learn how the film was originally cut a lot longer. This is something that I would like to see since I really got into the characters and wanted to see more of their story.

There are four deleted scenes here and I have to say these are well made for the disc being anamorphic. It`s easy to see how a couple of these were left on the cutting room floor, though one or two of them could have been used to flesh some more character in the story. The Making of is the PR bit and lasts just 20 minutes and is pretty good, though it`s a shame some of these elements can`t be combined to make a better documentary.

Cast and crew interviews are quite good though at 12 minutes long, it`s a bit short. The "Crazy" music video by K-Ci & Jo-Jo is okay but could have been enhanced for widescreen. Lastly we get the trailer which is the usual kind of trailer thing (it`s a shame it`s not anamorphically enhanced), giving away too much and showing footage not in the film. Not my kind of trailer and not something to watch if you haven`t seen the movie already. As with a lot of Paramount movies, there are loads of subtitles here, 15 in all with 3 language tracks.

Conclusion

I remember seeing the billboard ads for Save The Last Dance earlier in the year but I never went to see it because I just couldn`t get myself to go see it. Now that it`s out on DVD, I can see that I missed out the first time around.

While it might sound like a typical story of boy meets girl with racial tension, it`s told in such a way as to still retain a freshness to it. The pacing of the film is spot on and we get both the seriousness of the film with tension together with the fun dancing parts. I haven`t seen a lot of films dealing with interracial romances so this is a good one to see and while you can predict what might happen it doesn`t really matter, just go with it and enjoy the performances. It`s nicely balanced and works so well. I`ve watched this movie a few times already and it doesn`t bore at all.

The cast have a real passion for the film and turn in strong performances. I haven`t seen much of Julia Stiles before and the chemistry between her and Patrick Sean Thomas is heart warming. I`d like to say a special mention for Kerry Washington who plays Chenille, she`s gorgeous and sets my heart a flutter... :-) It`s a shame that we don`t get to see more of Stiles` mother or father, apparently more of their scenes are on the cutting room floor. It would be interesting to see a `Director`s Cut` one day.

There`s a lot of urban/soul/r&b music here in the movie but don`t let this put you off in the slightest. I`m not really into the music but this is played out in style with great choreography so it`s nothing but mesmerising and I was absolutely glued to the screen. I dare anyone into music and dance to watch this film and not tap their feet and move with the film! The music here is simply superb and well chosen.

I found myself getting especially caught up in the final scene everytime as it`s a wonderful moment. You`ll just have to see it to know what I mean! Save The Last Dance is, for me, an undiscovered gem of a movie and is one of my favourite films of the year. I love the performances, the music, the dancing and the way the film is handled. Thomas Carter`s commentary is interesting and informative and rounds off a polished product from Paramount. If you love music (regardless of genre) and dance, you`re going to love Save The Last Dance. I think it`s a charming film and definitely worth a look.