Review of Shall We Dance? (2004) by Filipeneto — 22 Sep 2019

A fun and light romantic comedy, with some script and cast flaws, but a great bag of humor and music.

John Clark is a quiet, overworked lawyer with a stagnant marriage. Passing through a small dance school, she decides to come in and experiment, getting in touch with young Paulina, a professional Latin dancer who works there, along with the school's owner, Miss Mitzi. But it gets complicated as Clark's wife becomes more suspicious of her husband's routines.

This romantic comedy has charm and knows to be interesting but is based on a somewhat predictable script that constantly suggests the romantic interest between Clark and Paulina ... the sexual tension between the two characters is palpable but such a thing never really happens. It's just a gimmick to keep the audience alert until the end. Gere is a nice actor who really looks good on characters like what he did here. Jennifer Lopez is extraordinarily beautiful but extremely serious, and her performance here is somewhat hampered by her lack of joy, playfulness and strength of character. It even seems that the actress was making the movie unwillingly. Much better was the rendering of Susan Sarandon or Anita Gillette. A word of appreciation, too, to Stanley Tucci and Lisa Ann Walter, to whom we owe most of the film's comic moments.

With a good photo, well-made costumes (highlighting the dance costumes) and good scenery, the film excelled by the soundtrack, which is truly interesting, appealing, fun and eclectic.