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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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the Last Dance (2001)
Directed by Thomas Carter Starring Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Terry Kinney, Fredro Starr, Whitney Powell Let me get my own weakness for a particular actor out of the way right now. I think Julia Stiles is one of the best young actresses working in movies today. She has a combination of strength and vulnerability, intelligence and grace that few young adults possess. It probably goes without saying that I think she's beautiful, but she's a lot more than a pretty face. Her portrayal in 1999's Ten Things I Hate About You raised it from run-of-the-mill teen flick to worthwhile film for all ages. Unfortunately, despite another strong performance, she can't do the same thing for Save the Last Dance. This time around, she plays a suburban white teenager named Sara who, after the sudden death of her mother, goes to live with her father on the south side of Chicago (thumbs up to the filmmakers for actually making it feel like the south side of Chicago). There she meets Chenille (Kerry Washington), an African-American high schooler with way more fashion sense than Sara, and Chenille's brother Derek (played by Sean Patrick Thomas), a strong-willed senior with his eyes set on Georgetown. It's not long before Sara and Derek "hook up." This earnest movie, which feels like an after-school special, only with swearing and extended dance sequences, takes on the usual themes of modern-day teen movies: tolerance for other races, violence and drugs, and the importance of following your dreams. That the movie deals with any of these credibly seems a testament to Stiles's integrity and acting chops rather than the pedestrian script, though I fully admit my own bias on the matter. Unfortunately, even her charm can't help her co-star, whose delivery is so flat that their scenes together sometimes reach the painful stage. Painful for adult viewers, that is. Somehow, I suspect the movie's target audience (12-14-year-old girls) will lap it all up. J. Robert Parks 1/15/2001
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