Shall we Dance? (2004)

Director: Peter Chelsom

Starring: Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci

A romantic comedy where a bored, overworked Estate Lawyer, upon first sight of a beautiful instructor, signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.

If you love dancing, you surely will enjoy ‘Shall we Dance?’ – a remake of the 1996 Japanese film of the same name. I’m not much of a dancer (at all!), but I really enjoyed this movie.

‘Shall we Dance?’ is a delightful comedy about a lawyer, John Clark, who gets a bit tired of his monotonous life. Every night he rides on the train back home, and sees a dance school through the train window. One night, on the spur of the moment, he decides to enquire about dancing lessons. What follows is a hilarious journey of a man transforming into something he never thought possible. Looking for an escape to spice up his life, had far reaching results beyond his wildest dreams…

I enjoyed the nicely fleshed out characters, and the ever so charming Richard Gere was good as John Clark. I also particularly enjoyed Stanley Tucci as Link, who works in John’s office, and also took up dancing. I loved the music, the dancing, the characters, and it was really funny, too. I was also delighted to see – despite the possibilities – the hero remained faithful to his family throughout. This is such a feel-good movie!

‘Shall we Dance?’ earned $170 million at the box office, on a $50 million budget. It received nominations for Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Original Song, among others.