Mad Hot Ballroom
Terri
I was all set to see an enjoyable movie from beginning to end in that I like dancing and I like kids and I figured this was a sure fire winner, especially since both the critics and the audience had rated it a B+ on Yahoo movies.
I really liked the premise in that it was to be a ballroom dancing competition among youngsters, junior high school age, in New York City that has grown from a surprising early success to part of the right of passage in growing up in The Big Apple.
What I found was that I had a really hard time staying awake during the first hour, more or less. The focus was probably on too many young kids, unlike the spelling bee movie that came out a while ago, that I thought was very effective.
My best guess is that I dozed off two or three times during the first hour. It wasn't unpleasant and I expected more, which I got once the competition began--not a lot more, but some more.
In the end, by the final number and aspect of the competition, I was into the movie and enjoyed it, but, by then, it was too late to save its overall rating for me.
In writing, there's a saying that less is more. If the storyteller had either a. limited the inquiry to less students and delved more deeply into individual lives, or b. cut the first hour and twenty minutes, this might have been a good movie.
As for me, by the time I had to wake up to see the rest of it I was resentful of the disturbance to my state of rest. Thumbs down, but not way down. I give it a C+ for an uplifting theme and and a worthwhile endeavor. It's just that it wasn't "pulled off," as we used to say in architecture.
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Terri said it was "a little slow, but I like kids and I enjoyed watching them compete. For me, this movie stood for the propostion that where there's hope, there's inspiration.
"I think the movie very well illustrated what's possible for kids who have good, dedicated teachers. It shows how uplifting it can be for them to have been given a chance."
"It was a little slow . . . [repeated], but . . .
Thumbs up!
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