Randa Haines' "Dance With Me" -- the energetic, crowd-pleasing opening film at the inaugural Los Angeles International Women's Film Festival -- teases with the noble lead's shy demeanor, but the love story explodes in vibrant dance sequences and finds its own catchy rhythm and moves.
A Sony Pictures summer release, "Dance With Me" stars Latin American pop star Chayanne and Vanessa L. Williams as lovestruck partners in a romantic evening's worth of false starts, close encounters and sensual adventures on the dance floor. Directed with passion and a light touch by Haines, the upbeat film could be a sleeper with mainstream appeal and should become an international hit.
Rafael (Chayanne) is a handsome, kind-of-sad Cuban who leaves his beloved island for Houston, where he becomes the new handyman at a dance studio owned by family friend John (Kris Kristofferson). With plenty of raw talent but unable to break the ice with professional competitor Ruby (Williams), Rafael also can't talk to John about his mother. Instead, he restores an old truck and waits for an opening.
Screenwriter Daryl Matthews does not give Chayanne a lot of lines, but the uneasy assimilation of homesick Rafael is deftly handled, with the red-hot Puerto Rican singer-actor captured in all moods and degrees of hunkiness by Haines and cinematographer Fred Murphy. The dancing is always stunning, and Williams has to sweat a lot to keep up.
Along with the upcoming "Tango", "Dance With Me" has a compelling plot revolving around a dance style -- salsa -- with Haines employing many bravura camera angles and movements to follow theaction. In one wonderful sequence, Rafael and Ruby come upon a wedding party and join a large group performing a dazzlingly intricate number.
There are scenes of kids and old people dancing, including the remarkable Joan Plowright, and everything from ballroom to ballet is featured in the Olympian competition for which everyone is preparing.
The storytelling is also accomplished and agile. The expected pairing of Rafael and Ruby in the climactic World Open Dance Championship in Las Vegas doesn't happen, with blond nice-girl Patricia (Jane Krakowski) requesting him instead.
Rafael and Patricia go far in the intense contest, but he is stuck on Ruby -- even as she goes back to her old boyfriend long enough to win. Rafael keeps learning and finally wins her, while the slightly overlong film always keeps one entertained. The superb soundtrack has more than 40 selections, including several by Cachao and the leads' heartfelt rendering of Diane Warren's "You Are My Home".
DANCE WITH ME
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
Mandalay Entertainment presents a Weissman/Egawa production
A Randa Haines film
Director: Randa Haines
Producers: Lauren C. Weissman, Shinya Egawa, Randa Haines
Screenwriter: Daryl Matthews
Executive producer: Ted Zachary
Director of photography: Fred Murphy
Production designer: Waldemark Kalinowski
Editor: Lisa Fruchtman
Costume designer: Joe I. Tompkins
Music: Michael Convertino
Casting: Lora Kennedy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rafael: Chayanne
Ruby: Vanessa L. Williams
John: Kris Kristofferson
Patricia: Jane Krakowski
Bea: Joan Plowright
Lovejoy:: Beth Grant
Running time -- 126 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
A Sony Pictures summer release, "Dance With Me" stars Latin American pop star Chayanne and Vanessa L. Williams as lovestruck partners in a romantic evening's worth of false starts, close encounters and sensual adventures on the dance floor. Directed with passion and a light touch by Haines, the upbeat film could be a sleeper with mainstream appeal and should become an international hit.
Rafael (Chayanne) is a handsome, kind-of-sad Cuban who leaves his beloved island for Houston, where he becomes the new handyman at a dance studio owned by family friend John (Kris Kristofferson). With plenty of raw talent but unable to break the ice with professional competitor Ruby (Williams), Rafael also can't talk to John about his mother. Instead, he restores an old truck and waits for an opening.
Screenwriter Daryl Matthews does not give Chayanne a lot of lines, but the uneasy assimilation of homesick Rafael is deftly handled, with the red-hot Puerto Rican singer-actor captured in all moods and degrees of hunkiness by Haines and cinematographer Fred Murphy. The dancing is always stunning, and Williams has to sweat a lot to keep up.
Along with the upcoming "Tango", "Dance With Me" has a compelling plot revolving around a dance style -- salsa -- with Haines employing many bravura camera angles and movements to follow theaction. In one wonderful sequence, Rafael and Ruby come upon a wedding party and join a large group performing a dazzlingly intricate number.
There are scenes of kids and old people dancing, including the remarkable Joan Plowright, and everything from ballroom to ballet is featured in the Olympian competition for which everyone is preparing.
The storytelling is also accomplished and agile. The expected pairing of Rafael and Ruby in the climactic World Open Dance Championship in Las Vegas doesn't happen, with blond nice-girl Patricia (Jane Krakowski) requesting him instead.
Rafael and Patricia go far in the intense contest, but he is stuck on Ruby -- even as she goes back to her old boyfriend long enough to win. Rafael keeps learning and finally wins her, while the slightly overlong film always keeps one entertained. The superb soundtrack has more than 40 selections, including several by Cachao and the leads' heartfelt rendering of Diane Warren's "You Are My Home".
DANCE WITH ME
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
Mandalay Entertainment presents a Weissman/Egawa production
A Randa Haines film
Director: Randa Haines
Producers: Lauren C. Weissman, Shinya Egawa, Randa Haines
Screenwriter: Daryl Matthews
Executive producer: Ted Zachary
Director of photography: Fred Murphy
Production designer: Waldemark Kalinowski
Editor: Lisa Fruchtman
Costume designer: Joe I. Tompkins
Music: Michael Convertino
Casting: Lora Kennedy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rafael: Chayanne
Ruby: Vanessa L. Williams
John: Kris Kristofferson
Patricia: Jane Krakowski
Bea: Joan Plowright
Lovejoy:: Beth Grant
Running time -- 126 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 8/27/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Randa Haines' "Dance With Me" -- the energetic, crowd-pleasing opening film at the inaugural Los Angeles International Women's Film Festival -- teases with the noble lead's shy demeanor, but the love story explodes in vibrant dance sequences and finds its own catchy rhythm and moves.
A Sony Pictures summer release, "Dance With Me" stars Latin American pop star Chayanne and Vanessa L. Williams as lovestruck partners in a romantic evening's worth of false starts, close encounters and sensual adventures on the dance floor. Directed with passion and a light touch by Haines, the upbeat film could be a sleeper with mainstream appeal and should become an international hit.
Rafael (Chayanne) is a handsome, kind-of-sad Cuban who leaves his beloved island for Houston, where he becomes the new handyman at a dance studio owned by family friend John (Kris Kristofferson). With plenty of raw talent but unable to break the ice with professional competitor Ruby (Williams), Rafael also can't talk to John about his mother. Instead, he restores an old truck and waits for an opening.
Screenwriter Daryl Matthews does not give Chayanne a lot of lines, but the uneasy assimilation of homesick Rafael is deftly handled, with the red-hot Puerto Rican singer-actor captured in all moods and degrees of hunkiness by Haines and cinematographer Fred Murphy. The dancing is always stunning, and Williams has to sweat a lot to keep up.
Along with the upcoming "Tango", "Dance With Me" has a compelling plot revolving around a dance style -- salsa -- with Haines employing many bravura camera angles and movements to follow the action. In one wonderful sequence, Rafael and Ruby come upon a wedding party and join a large group performing a dazzlingly intricate number.
There are scenes of kids and old people dancing, including the remarkable Joan Plowright, and everything from ballroom to ballet is featured in the Olympian competition for which everyone is preparing.
The storytelling is also accomplished and agile. The expected pairing of Rafael and Ruby in the climactic World Open Dance Championship in Las Vegas doesn't happen, with blond nice-girl Patricia (Jane Krakowski) requesting him instead.
Rafael and Patricia go far in the intense contest, but he is stuck on Ruby -- even as she goes back to her old boyfriend long enough to win. Rafael keeps learning and finally wins her, while the slightly overlong film always keeps one entertained. The superb soundtrack has more than 40 selections, including several by Cachao and the leads' heartfelt rendering of Diane Warren's "You Are My Home".
DANCE WITH ME
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
Mandalay Entertainment presents
a Weissman/Egawa production
A Randa Haines film
Director: Randa Haines
Producers: Lauren C. Weissman,
Shinya Egawa, Randa Haines
Screenwriter: Daryl Matthews
Executive producer: Ted Zachary
Director of photography: Fred Murphy
Production designer: Waldemark Kalinowski
Editor: Lisa Fruchtman
Costume designer: Joe I. Tompkins
Music: Michael Convertino
Casting: Lora Kennedy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rafael: Chayanne
Ruby: Vanessa L. Williams
John: Kris Kristofferson
Patricia: Jane Krakowski
Bea: Joan Plowright
Lovejoy:: Beth Grant
Running time -- 126 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
A Sony Pictures summer release, "Dance With Me" stars Latin American pop star Chayanne and Vanessa L. Williams as lovestruck partners in a romantic evening's worth of false starts, close encounters and sensual adventures on the dance floor. Directed with passion and a light touch by Haines, the upbeat film could be a sleeper with mainstream appeal and should become an international hit.
Rafael (Chayanne) is a handsome, kind-of-sad Cuban who leaves his beloved island for Houston, where he becomes the new handyman at a dance studio owned by family friend John (Kris Kristofferson). With plenty of raw talent but unable to break the ice with professional competitor Ruby (Williams), Rafael also can't talk to John about his mother. Instead, he restores an old truck and waits for an opening.
Screenwriter Daryl Matthews does not give Chayanne a lot of lines, but the uneasy assimilation of homesick Rafael is deftly handled, with the red-hot Puerto Rican singer-actor captured in all moods and degrees of hunkiness by Haines and cinematographer Fred Murphy. The dancing is always stunning, and Williams has to sweat a lot to keep up.
Along with the upcoming "Tango", "Dance With Me" has a compelling plot revolving around a dance style -- salsa -- with Haines employing many bravura camera angles and movements to follow the action. In one wonderful sequence, Rafael and Ruby come upon a wedding party and join a large group performing a dazzlingly intricate number.
There are scenes of kids and old people dancing, including the remarkable Joan Plowright, and everything from ballroom to ballet is featured in the Olympian competition for which everyone is preparing.
The storytelling is also accomplished and agile. The expected pairing of Rafael and Ruby in the climactic World Open Dance Championship in Las Vegas doesn't happen, with blond nice-girl Patricia (Jane Krakowski) requesting him instead.
Rafael and Patricia go far in the intense contest, but he is stuck on Ruby -- even as she goes back to her old boyfriend long enough to win. Rafael keeps learning and finally wins her, while the slightly overlong film always keeps one entertained. The superb soundtrack has more than 40 selections, including several by Cachao and the leads' heartfelt rendering of Diane Warren's "You Are My Home".
DANCE WITH ME
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
Mandalay Entertainment presents
a Weissman/Egawa production
A Randa Haines film
Director: Randa Haines
Producers: Lauren C. Weissman,
Shinya Egawa, Randa Haines
Screenwriter: Daryl Matthews
Executive producer: Ted Zachary
Director of photography: Fred Murphy
Production designer: Waldemark Kalinowski
Editor: Lisa Fruchtman
Costume designer: Joe I. Tompkins
Music: Michael Convertino
Casting: Lora Kennedy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rafael: Chayanne
Ruby: Vanessa L. Williams
John: Kris Kristofferson
Patricia: Jane Krakowski
Bea: Joan Plowright
Lovejoy:: Beth Grant
Running time -- 126 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.