Save The Last Dance

Starring: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas Director: Thomas Carter Original UK Premiere: 2001 Dvd Release: 5th November, 2001 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish Dubbed In: Czech, German

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Save the Last Dance enjoyed a profitable release in early 2001, with box-office earnings that exceeded anyones expectations. Its performance illustrates the staying power of a formulaic film that avoids the pitfalls & clichés that would otherwise render it forgettable. Since theres nothing new here, youll appreciate the original quirks in a character-based plot thats just around the corner from Flashdance, & just as familiar. Sara gave up a promising ballet career when her mother was killed while rushing to attend her daughters crucial audition to Juilliard; Sara blames herself for the accident, & at her new, mostly African-American high school in Chicago, shes uncertain of her future.

Derek has no such doubts; his own future is bright, & his attraction to Sara is immediate; they connect , & Saras dormant funk emerges, with Dereks coaching, as she learns hip-hop dancing in a local club. Obligatory subplots are equally routine: Dereks sister is a single mom struggling with her childs absentee father; Dereks best friend feels trapped in his gangster lifestyle; & Saras once-estranged father is doing his best to correct past mistakes. Within the confines of this standard follow-your-dream drama, director Thomas Carter capitalises on a script that allows these characters to be real, intelligent, & thoughtful about their lives & their futures. Its obvious that Stiless dancing was intercut with that of a professional double, but that illusion hardly matters when the rest of the films so earnestly positive & genuine.

Julia OHara Stiles is an American actress. Hailed as the thinking teenagers movie goddess by New York Times critic Ben Brantley, Stiles has been a darling of critics despite her youth. Stephen Holden of The Washington Post says she is one of Hollywoods brighest young stars & compares her to Jane Fonda & Glenn Close. The Jerusalem Post wrote Stiles was a young, serious looking Diane Lane. Stiles was born in New York City to John OHara, a teacher & businessman & Judith Stiles, a potter. She was an actress from a young age, performing with New Yorks La MaMa Theatre Company. Her first film was a non-speaking role in I Love You, I Love You Not with Claire Danes & Jude Law. She also had small roles as Harrison Ford s daughter in Alan J Pakula s The Devils Own & in M Night Shyamalan s Wide Awake. Stiless first starrring role was in Wicked, playing a teenage girl who murders her mother so she can have her father all to herself. Despite the acclaim the film received at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, the film was not commercially released in the US & went direct-to-video. Posters Of Julia Stiles

Editors Choice: Mona Lisa Smile, The Prince And Me, A Guy Thing, Wicked, The Business Of Strangers, Save The Last Dance, Down To You, 10 Things I Hate About You, View DVDology

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