Shall We Dance?

A Review by Daniel

Shall We Dance? staring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez was a great change in movie genre for me. I see a lot of horror and suspense films but this was a nice change.

John Clark (Gere) is a middle-aged lawyer who has become bored with his life. He has a loving wife (Sarandon) and two children but he fills that something is missing from his life. Embarrassed of what his family would say if they found out he was not satisfied with the life they had, John begins taking private dancing lessons, yes dancing lessons.

The situation with the dancing lessons is a bit awkward for a while but eventually John loosens up and begins to enjoy the lessons, so much that he can't stand missing even one.

Meanwhile, John's wife Beverly has become a little suspicious of John's frequent absences and she goes so far as to hire a private investigator to see if he's having an affair.

Back at the dancing lessons John becomes intrigued by one of the dancing teachers, Paulina (Lopez), and the gracefulness of her dancing. I won't give too much of the storyline away but I will say that these two characters eventually help one another become more comfortable in their roles.

Overall I'd give Shall We Dance? 3.5 stars out of 5. I liked the general storyline and the acting was pretty good for the most part however some of it did seem a little too forced at times. I also did enjoy the soundtrack of the film, especially "The Book of Love" song (stop laughing).
For the most part I don't think most people my age would enjoy this movie, I think older audiences would enjoy it more.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
MPAA: PG-13
Movie Length: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
Creation Date: 2004
Director: Peter Chelsom
Stars: Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Lisa Ann Walter, and Stanley Tucci.
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