 Probably ending up in third place this weekend, say critics, will be the Antonio Banderas starrer Take the Lead, a fictional version of the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom about a New York City teacher's efforts to teach ballroom dancing to kids. Most critics are suggesting it trips up. "Take the Lead, despite its nifty concept and fiery leading man, feels sloppy and rushed," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. Jan Start in Newsday argues, "What the system and its culturally underfunded student body probably don't need is inspired-by-true-events claptrap like Take the Lead." Likewise, Sarah Kaufman writes in the Washington Post, "There are a few good scenes, but the whole thing feels too phony." Several critics observe that the filmmakers apparently were concerned that a film about traditional ballroom dancing would fail to attract an audience and therefore decided to add hip-hop to the mix. As Wesley Morris comments in the Boston Globe, "The movie partners all the clichés of the inner-city school drama with the clichés of the dance instructional, and the two keep stomping on each other's toes, while suggesting that a spoonful of hip-hop will make any medicine go down, even the stodgy tango." On the other hand Carrie Rickey writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "It's a ballroom/hip-hop mash-up that, although at times discordant and at all times familiar, moves with Banderas' brio and bounce." And Nancy Churnin in the Dallas Morning News calls it "hopeful and inspiring." |
