Save the Last Dance *** (2001, Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas) – Classic Movie Review 1564

Director Thomas Carter’s 2001 romantic drama stars Julia Stiles as Sara, a troubled US Midwestern white teenager who moves to Chicago after the death of her mother. Saramoves in with her estranged father, who lives in a predominantly black neighbourhood, where she joins a new school.

But she finds she can’t deal with her sorrow. However, she becomes friends with Chenille (Kerry Washington) and falls in love with her brother. Her new black boyfriend Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) has a rough, semi-criminal past but he helps her overcome her emotional and practical problems by the power of dance. Sara wants to be a ballerina but Derek teaches her hip hop.

With a screenplay by Diane Adler and Cheryl Edwards, it’s a simple but pleasant and enjoyable teen movie, with pleasing acting and a well-handled race message. Stiles is cute and appealing, while Thomas is nice and charismatic.

Carter is the director of 2002’s Coach Carter. A made for video Save the Last Dance 2 appeared in 2006.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1564

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