Take the Lead (2006)

In New York, the polite dance instructor Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) sees a black teenager vandalizing the car of the director of a public school and on the next day he volunteers to teach dance to students to give respect, dignity, self-confidence, trust and teamwork. The reluctant director Augustine James (Alfre Woodard) offers the troublemakers that are in detention expecting Pierre to give-up of his intentions. Pierre struggles against the prejudice and ignorance of the students, parents and other teachers, but wins his battle when the group accepts to compete in a ballroom dance contest.

Movies of dance are usually attractive, and the entertaining "Take the Lead" is no exception. However, this feature is more important because it is based on a true story of a man that has decided to make a difference, helping poor students to see life with another perspective. Antonio Banderas shows again that he is a "complete" actor, capable of performing the most different roles. The real Pierre Dulaine deserves this homage for the importance of his gesture and action. Jenna Dewan, from "Step-up" and the sexy Katya Virshilas are stunning dancers and the actors and actresses present wonderful choreographic dances. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vem Dançar" ("Come to Dance")

Fmovies: Saw this movie at River Run Film Festival. The editing is incredible. Liz constantly inter-cuts between several stories at the same time, all in beat with the background music. Her background in music videos really shows in this film. Bandaras does a good job in this role. But the really significant aspect of this movie is the realistic portrayal of the lives of the high school students. I've never seen a movie with such believable gritty realism. At first, I was put off by not being able to understand every word of dialog but realized I didn't need to. This was another aspect of the realism of the film. Very creative storytelling.

I, for one, thought this was an excellent movie! True, it does have a familiar plot, but that does not at all distract from the true intention of the film. If I had to categorize it, I would say it's a seamless mix between Dangerous Minds and Save the Last Dance. However, unlike those, this is a TRUE story. This is not some script that came from someone's head, it really happened. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves a great story. This movie is very inspirational and has phenomenal music to boot. I was dancing in my seat. So forget what you think you know, and just give this film a chance. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Take the Lead fmovies. I saw this film on March 28th, 2006 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Film Festival's Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture "…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life." Heartland gave that award to this film. The setting is a rundown high school in a poor minority neighborhood in Manhatten. The students have a challenging family environment. Their parents are depicted as mostly unemployed and drunks, drug users, prostitutes, and low-lifes. Their children reflect this environment. They hide their low self esteem with bravura, petty crimes, slang, rudeness, indifference and, above all, their love of hip-hop music. By accident and fate, Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) walks into the Principal's office. He is challenged to work with the worst of the students as a volunteer in the detention hall after school. Pierre is an ex-professional ballroom dancer and runs a ballroom dancing school. He decides to get to the kids with ballroom dancing. His competition is hip-hop music and hip-hop dancing and the ghetto, chip-on-the-shoulder attitudes. Pierre tackles his assignment with presence. He is impeccably dressed, polite, and exudes intensity and confidence. Over time and with difficulty, he starts to bring the troubled teens up to his level. He never goes down to their level. And then he challenges the teens with a city-wide ballroom dance contest, and the story takes off. Pierre attempts to give hope to the students by having them make good choices. Pierre's tools are his own spirit, grace, sacrifice and charm. He wills his way into getting respect from the students. The movie has the same inspirational feel as "Mad Hot Ballroom" but is much different. This film is fiction and about older students and is much more edgy and brutal. While the film is occasionally edgy and dark, the music and dance makes this strangely a light and entertaining watch for most of the time. And the music and dance are eclectic – from Gershwin to 50 Cents and from Tango to slow motion Breakdance. FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.

There are so many good films being released and so many formulaic films like these are released that it seems like we can do without a film like TAKE THE LEAD.But guess what,this ain't your average coming-of-age inspiring story.This is rather more fun and effective drama powered by fantastic dance sequences,with the aid of Benderas who leads the kids.

The entire film depends on Benderas' energy and wit.He fills the film with energy and wit and excites everyone in the film.I really enjoyed the superbly choreographed dance sequences as it brings about different cultures together and shows how much fun it could be.It's really enthralling.

A finely made entertaining film with a different treatment to an old formula.Surprise is on their side.

This movie I will applaud for it's use of the art of montage. Every montage had a purpose - and they were edited together with the music super well. Not only were images from two different worlds combined in the montages - but music from two different worlds as well.

Growing up in East Los Angeles I could relate at a lot of different points. My family didn't have it bad, but the people around me did. I can see how the dance programs would boost self-esteem and add culture to kids who didn't have chances at culture.

The characters are well fleshed out (which is amazing for most recent movies) and Antonio Banderas gets to be his uber-suave, ultra-rich self. Dulaine opens doors and stands for ladies - moves that one kid in the movie calls "punk-@ss".

It's a familiar story line for anyone who has seen the typical teacher movie, but there's enough intrigue in the characters, the dance and the music to keep in highly entertaining. The theater audience with us was cheering, laughing and cat-calling at different points and the lady next to me kept saying how she couldn't wait for this to come out on DVD.