SAVE THE LAST DANCE
Sara Johnson’s (JULIA STILES) mother dies in a car accident on her way to attend Sara’s big Juliard audition. This awful tragedy sends midwestern Sara to live with her father in Chicago’s ghetto. While attending the nearly all black high school, Sara gets romantically involved with Derek Reynolds (SEANN PATRICK THOMAS). Sara and Derek come from different backgrounds but they share an interest in each other and an interest in following their dreams. Derek wants to become a pediatrician and needs to break old "criminal" habits and Sara dreams of returning to the ballet barre but can’t because she blames her mother’s death on her dancing. Together, Derek and Sara motivate each other to do everything it takes to make their future a reality. Derek breaks from his old "homies" in favor of Sara and convinces Sara to return to the ballet studio and once again audition for Juliard. They both make the right decision and Georgetown University accepts Derek as Juliard admits Sara.
Thomas Carter directs one of the most positive films about teenagers in a long time. This film shows teenagers in a light rarely given to them in modern movies. These youngsters don’t sit around complaining and partying all day and night. They go for what they want, good or bad, right or wrong and they suffer the consequences for their actions. For instance, Derek’s sister, Chenille (KERRY WASHINGTON) is a single mother in high school struggling to make her son’s father understand that they need him financially, physically and emotionally. Derek’s best homie, Malakie (FREDRO STAR) is the neighborhood thug hellbent on retaliating on the rival gang that shot at him and his friends at the local basketball court. Malakie asks Derek to have his back but Derek realizes that no good will come of this and refuses to go. Malakie ends up in the back of the police car with nothing but his "respect" intact, while Derek enjoys the visions of his bright future with Georgetown and Sara.
Thomas Carter assembled an incredible cast to tell this contemporary love story. Although color stands as one of the movie’s conflicts, the movie does not beat the audience over the head about the evils of racism. Rather, it sends a message that love and hip-hop conquers all. When the beat thumps show me any person that couldn’t help but bob their head and groove to the music. Carter adds the hottest club jams to the soundtrack to energize club and dancing scenes. Stiles will have to stick to acting but she does a decent job as a prima ballerina and hip-hop dancer. The entire cast does an incredible job of bringing all of the emotions of being young in the double 0’s to the screen in SAVE THE LAST DANCE. From the dialogue to the music to the fashion, this movie is on point. It’s a new classic.
SAVE THE LAST DANCE opens nationwide January 12, 2001. |
