I didn't expect to like Liz Friedlander's 'Take The Lead' very much. And I didn't. To be honest, though, it didn't annoy me anywhere near as much as I thought it would.
Every studio-friendly grimy ghetto stereotype is presented to us, with a side-order of WASPish snobbery. The hard-as-nails High School Principal with the heart-of-gold, the feckless parents, the hoods, the hookers, the Romeo and Juliet wannabes, the follow-your-dream sentiment. And into this mix fate throws er Antonio Banderas as a ballroom dancing teacher, of the sort that would be torn apart by the ravening mob attendant at any High School I've ever visited. And yet this purports to be based upon a true story. Fair enough.
My main problem is that, despite the veracity of the source story, it's too neat. There are no loose ends, which rather beggars belief in the reality of the tale. Love triumphs. Virtue is rewarded. Hard work and enthusiasm win the day. Uplifting, perhaps, but little reflection on the lifestyles of the kids as represented in the first half of the film. If anything this feels like the cheery pilot episode of a TV show. The foul spectre of 'the Kids From Fame' hangs heavy in the air.
Banderas is as stylish as ever, and Alfre Woodard is as cockily capable as ever, but it's the screen presence of Yaya DaCosta and Rob Brown as our would-be Montagu and Capulet that save the film.
It's not very good, but it's not that bad and the soundtrack is interesting.
Every studio-friendly grimy ghetto stereotype is presented to us, with a side-order of WASPish snobbery. The hard-as-nails High School Principal with the heart-of-gold, the feckless parents, the hoods, the hookers, the Romeo and Juliet wannabes, the follow-your-dream sentiment. And into this mix fate throws er Antonio Banderas as a ballroom dancing teacher, of the sort that would be torn apart by the ravening mob attendant at any High School I've ever visited. And yet this purports to be based upon a true story. Fair enough.
My main problem is that, despite the veracity of the source story, it's too neat. There are no loose ends, which rather beggars belief in the reality of the tale. Love triumphs. Virtue is rewarded. Hard work and enthusiasm win the day. Uplifting, perhaps, but little reflection on the lifestyles of the kids as represented in the first half of the film. If anything this feels like the cheery pilot episode of a TV show. The foul spectre of 'the Kids From Fame' hangs heavy in the air.
Banderas is as stylish as ever, and Alfre Woodard is as cockily capable as ever, but it's the screen presence of Yaya DaCosta and Rob Brown as our would-be Montagu and Capulet that save the film.
It's not very good, but it's not that bad and the soundtrack is interesting.