Save the Last Dance

Last updated

Save the Last Dance
SaveTheLastDance.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Thomas Carter
Screenplay by
Story byDuane Adler
Produced by
  • Robert W. Cort
  • David Madden
Starring
Cinematography Robbie Greenberg
Edited by
Music by Mark Isham
Production
companies
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • January 12, 2001 (2001-01-12)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13 million [1]
Box office$131.7 million [1]

Save the Last Dance is a 2001 American dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago who work together to help Stiles' character train for a Juilliard School dance audition.

Contents

Released theatrically in the United States on January 12, 2001, the film received mixed reviews from critics but was a box-office success and grossed $131.7 million worldwide against a $13 million budget.

A direct-to-video sequel, Save the Last Dance 2 , was released in 2006.

Plot

Seventeen-year-old Sara Johnson, a promising ballet dancer in suburban Chicago, hopes to be admitted to Juilliard School and implores her mother to attend the audition. She fails the audition and soon learns that her mother was killed in a car accident in her haste to get to it.

Sara is wracked with guilt and gives up ballet. She moves to the South Side to live with her estranged father Roy, a relatively unsuccessful jazz musician who plays the trumpet at nightclubs. Sara moves in with Roy, who lives in a dilapidated home. Sara transfers to a majority-black high school, where she is one of a handful of white students. Sara quickly befriends Chenille Reynolds, a teenage single mother who is having relationship problems with her ex-boyfriend Kenny.

Chenille invites Sara to a dance club called Stepps, where Sara has her first experience dancing to hip hop rhythms. At Stepps, Sara dances with Derek, Chenille's brother. Derek is rare in the community, but is a bright student with dreams of attending Georgetown University to become a pediatrician. Derek likes Sara, and decides to help her develop her dancing an abilities by incorporating more hip hop into her style.

Derek takes a reluctant Sara to the Joffrey Ballet and, afterwards, she confides in him about her mother and her dreams. Later, they return to the club and amaze others with their dancing. While performing, Derek's ex-girlfriend Nikki interrupts them and begins dancing with Derek, making Sara retreat to the bar.

Afterward, Derek returns to Sara and apologizes for pairing up with Nikki; they subsequently make up and return to Roy's apartment. Having achieved his dream of being accepted into Georgetown, Derek convinces Sara to follow her dreams of Juilliard; they eventually begin a romantic relationship.

At school, Nikki picks a fight with Sara during gym. While Chenille is stressed at an urgent doctor visit for her child, Chenille tells Sara that she did not approve of the fight. Chenille states she can sympathize with Nikki’s bitterness since Sara, a white girl, is seemingly "stealing" one of the few decent black boys at school. Because of this conversation, Sara and Chenille's friendship becomes strained, and Sara decides to break up with Derek.

Meanwhile, Derek deals with his friend Malakai, who is heavily involved in the gang lifestyle that Derek is trying to leave. Derek agrees to help Malakai execute a drive-by at the same time as Sara's audition. Roy has a heart-to-heart talk with Sara and encourages her to go through with the audition.

After learning what Chenille said to Sara, Derek confronts her about it, as well as explains his true reasons for dumping Nikki. Remorseful of her actions, Chenille admits that what she did was wrong and apologizes. She also tells Derek that Sara did not want to dump him, but Chenille's words hurt her to the point of feeling forced to.

Chenille also admits that she has been resentful for how Kenny has been treating her, including not helping her raise their son and not being a good boyfriend to her. She unintentionally took it out on Sara since she has been envious of her and Derek's relationship. Chenille encourages Derek to be with Sara, admitting that she knows that Sara is in love with him. She also warns Derek not to follow Malakai, knowing that he may lose his chance to attend Georgetown and his future if he is arrested. Derek meets up with Malakai and does his best to dissuade him from carrying out the attack, but Malakai refuses.

Derek arrives at a crucial point in Sara's performance to offer her encouragement and moral support. Afterward, Sara is accepted into Juilliard and rekindles her relationship with Derek. Meanwhile, the drive-by is botched and Malakai is arrested. The film closes as Sara, Derek, Chenille, and their friends meet at Stepps to celebrate Sara's successful audition.

Cast

Production

Julia Stiles landed the role of Sara when director Thomas Carter saw her dance scene in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You . [2] To prepare for her role, Stiles did two months of training for the ballet scenes while also rehearsing the choreography for the hip hop scenes. [2] Fatima Robinson was the film's hip hop choreographer.

Music

Soundtrack

Save the Last Dance
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedDecember 19, 2000
Recorded2000
Genre Hip hop, R&B
Label Hollywood
Producer DJ Battlecat, Raphael Saadiq, Eddie F, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Stevie J, Darryl Anthony, The Whole 9, Jave & Sweet, Delite
Singles from Save the Last Dance
  1. "Murder She Wrote"
    Released: 1993
  2. "Only You"
    Released: June 27, 1996
  3. "Get It On Tonite"
    Released: October 12, 1999
  4. "U Know What's Up"
    Released: November 2, 1999
  5. "You Make Me Sick"
    Released: December 18, 2000
  6. "Love Like This"
    Released: September 15, 1998
  7. "Crazy"
    Released: March 2, 2001
  8. "You"
    Released: July 17, 2001
  9. "All Or Nothing"
    Released: 2001

The film's soundtrack was released on December 19, 2000, through Hollywood Records and consisted of hip hop and R&B music. The soundtrack was a huge success, and made it to several Billboard charts. It peaked at 3 on the Billboard 200, 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, 6 on the Top Soundtracks, 3 on the Top Internet Albums and 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and featured two charting singles "Crazy" and "You". Save The Last Dance went both gold and platinum on January 29, 2001, and was certified 2x multi-platinum on May 20, 2002. The soundtrack won the American Music Award for Best Soundtrack in 2002. [3]

Allmusic rated the soundtrack three out of five stars. [4] RapReviews rated it three and a half out of ten. [5]

  1. "True Colors/Shining Through" (Theme from Save the Last Dance) – Fredro Starr featuring Jill Scott
  2. "You" – Lucy Pearl featuring Snoop Dogg & Q-Tip
  3. "Bonafide" – X-2-C
  4. "Crazy" – K-Ci & JoJo
  5. "You Make Me Sick" – Pink
  6. "U Know What's Up" – Donell Jones
  7. "Move It Slow" – Kevon Edmonds
  8. "Murder She Wrote" – Chaka Demus & Pliers
  9. "You Can Do It" – Ice Cube featuring Mack 10 & Ms. Toi
  10. "My Window" – Soulbone
  11. "Only You" – 112 featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
  12. "Get It On Tonite" – Montell Jordan
  13. "All Or Nothing" – Athena Cage
  14. "What You Want" – Mase
  15. "Love Like This" - Faith Evans featuring The Notorious B.I.G.

Release

The film debuted at number 1 at the North American box office making $27.5 million in its opening weekend. Though the film had a 44% decline in earnings the following weekend, it was still enough to keep the film at the top spot for another week. It grossed $91,057,006 in the US alone and $131.7 million worldwide. [6]

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on June 19, 2001. [7] It was re-released on DVD on January 24, 2017. [8]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 53% approval rating based on 100 reviews, with an average score of 5.5/10 and a consensus: "This teen romance flick feels like a predictable rehashing of other movies."

Positive reviews praised the performances of Stiles, Thomas, and Washington. [9] [10] Desson Howe of The Washington Post called Stiles and Washington appealing performers and concluded, "Thomas is the movie's best element. He puts so much authority in his performance, he makes this controversial romance seem like the best thing that could happen to anyone. That's no easy task." [11]

In a three-star review, Roger Ebert said that despite the film's clichéd story and romance, "the development is intelligent, the characters are more complicated than we expect, and the ending doesn't tie everything up in a predictable way." [12] Charles Taylor of Salon wrote, "for all its dumb clichés it offers the basic appeal of teen movies: the pleasure of watching kids be kids, acting as they do among themselves instead of how parents and teachers expect them to act." [13]

Writing for the Chicago Tribune , Mark Caro wrote, "On paper the movie is full of cliches recently explored elsewhere...Yet in this case the outline is not the story; the people who inhabit it are," and in this way, "Save the Last Dance triumphantly passes the audition." [14]

Negative reviews criticized the editing style of dance scenes, the film's "after-school special"-like subplot, and the script for not delving enough into the issues of interracial relationships. [15] Critic Wesley Morris wrote "the movie combines the worst of urbansploitation with the worst of teensploitation, and outfits them both in makings of the ultimate racial-crossover melodrama -- teen motherhood, deadbeat teen dads, drive-bys, a dangerous ex-girlfriend, speeches straight from the pages of Terry McMillan." [15] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "director Thomas Carter is afraid to pump up the volume on its own interracial, hip hop Romeo and Juliet story, lest it challenge even one sedated viewer or disturb the peace." [16]

Legacy

Along with similar-themed teen movies from the early 2000s such as Honey , You Got Served and Stomp the Yard , the dancing in Save the Last Dance is uniformly derided as mediocre at best, and borderline offensive at worst. [17] Its characterization of "hip hop dancing" as amounting to random fingerpointing and sitting awkwardly in a chair has spawned viral memes on social media. [17] [18]

Additionally, the plot line of Sara's subpar audition being enough to earn admission to Juilliard has been mocked as "ludicrous". In a twenty-year retrospective of the movie, Karla Rodriguez of Complex Magazine wrote:

We are sure Stiles worked really hard to learn the choreography for this scene and she deserves to be commended for her efforts—especially since the actress had no previous dance experience prior to the film and still did most of the dancing herself. But let's be honest: If it wasn't part of a movie, there's no way that dance number would have held up in real life and gotten her accepted into one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world. After all, the famous NYC school has an extremely low acceptance rate of 8%, beating out a majority of Ivy League schools. That figure makes the fine arts school harder to get into than Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania. [17]

During a Weekend Update segment on the December 9, 2023 episode of Saturday Night Live , comedian Chloe Fineman did Stiles' dance from the end of the film alongside Stiles, who made a surprise cameo. [19]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
Black Reel Awards Theatrical — Best Supporting Actress Kerry Washington Nominated
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing — Music, Musical Feature Film Michael T. RyanNominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas Won
Best Dance Sequence Nominated
Best Female Performance Julia StilesNominated
Breakthrough Male Performance Sean Patrick ThomasWon
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: ActressJulia StilesWon
Choice Movie: Breakout StarKerry WashingtonWon
Choice Movie: Fight SceneJulia Stiles and Bianca Lawson Won
Choice Movie: Drama Nominated
Young Hollywood Awards Standout Performance — MaleSean Patrick ThomasWon

Sequel

A sequel to the film, titled Save the Last Dance 2 , was released direct-to-video on October 10, 2006.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaliyah</span> American singer (1979–2001)

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was an American singer and actress. She has been credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop, and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mya (singer)</span> American singer and actress (born 1979)

Mya Marie Harrison is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and actress. Classified as a "triple threat entertainer," she has become a staple in pop cultural zeitgeist for her work in contemporary R&B. Born and raised in Washington D.C., as a child she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance. She began her career in television as a dance posse member, performing on BET's Teen Summit. She signed with record executive A. Haqq Islam's University Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release her eponymous debut studio album (1998), which lyrically explored romance and coming-of-age scenarios. A critical and commercial success, the album spawned her first Billboard Hot 100-top ten single, "It's All About Me". Her collaborative singles — "Girls Dem Sugar", "Ghetto Supastar ", and "Take Me There" — were also met with commercial success.

Some films feature recognizable dance forms, demonstrating them, shedding light on their origin, or being the base of a plot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Stiles</span> American actress (born 1981)

Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at the age of 11 as part of New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Her film debut was a small role in I Love You, I Love You Not (1996), followed by a lead role in Wicked (1998) for which she received the Karlovy Vary Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She rose to prominence with leading roles in teen films such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Down to You (2000), and Save the Last Dance (2001). Her accolades include a Teen Choice Award and two MTV Movie Awards, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award, and Primetime Emmy Award.

<i>Carmen: A Hip Hopera</i> 2001 television film directed by Robert Townsend

Carmen: A Hip Hopera is a 2001 American musical romantic drama television film produced by MTV and directed by Robert Townsend. Starring Beyoncé Knowles in her debut acting role along with Mekhi Phifer, Mos Def, Rah Digga, Wyclef Jean, Da Brat, Joy Bryant, Reagan Gomez-Preston, Jermaine Dupri and Lil' Bow Wow, it is based upon the 1875 opera Carmen by Georges Bizet, Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac, but set in modern-day Philadelphia and Los Angeles and featuring a mostly original hip-hop/R&B score in place of Bizet's opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Grey</span> American actress (born 1960)

Jennifer Grey is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film Reckless (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide fame for starring as Frances "Baby" Houseman in the romantic drama film Dirty Dancing (1987), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. Her other feature films include Red Dawn (1984), The Cotton Club (1984), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989), Bounce (2000), Redbelt (2008), The Wind Rises (2013), In Your Eyes (2014), Duck Duck Goose (2018), and Bittersweet Symphony (2019).

<i>Bring It On</i> (film) 2000 film directed by Peyton Reed

Bring It On is a 2000 American teen comedy film directed by Peyton Reed and written by Jessica Bendinger. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford and Gabrielle Union. The plot of the film centers around two high school cheerleading teams' preparation for a national competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hip hop dance</span> Street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music

Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin', Beat Street, and Wild Style showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop dance mainstream exposure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Shankman</span> American film director

Adam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, writer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer. He was a permanent judge on seasons 6–7 of the television program So You Think You Can Dance. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. Shankman has choreographed dozens of films and directed several feature-length films, including A Walk to Remember, Bringing Down the House, The Pacifier, and the musicals Hairspray and Disenchanted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikki Blonsky</span> American actress, singer, and dancer

Nicole Blonsky is an American actress, singer, dancer, and internet personality. She is known for playing Tracy Turnblad in the film Hairspray (2007), for which she won two Critics' Choice Awards and received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabelle Fuhrman</span> American actress (born 1997)

Isabelle Fuhrman is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Esther in the horror film Orphan (2009) and its prequel Orphan: First Kill (2022). She also portrayed Clove in the dystopian adventure film The Hunger Games (2012), and Alex in the independent film The Novice (2021).

<i>Save the Last Dance 2</i> 2006 American film

Save the Last Dance 2 is a 2006 dance drama film and a sequel to the 2001 film Save the Last Dance. It was released to DVD on October 10, 2006, by Paramount Home Entertainment and MTV. While featuring some returning characters, none of the original cast are retained from the original film. R&B singer Ne-Yo makes an appearance in the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutina Wesley</span> American actress

Rutina Wesley is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tara Thornton on the HBO television series True Blood, and Nova Bordelon on OWN’s Queen Sugar.

<i>Teen Wolf</i> (2011 TV series) American supernatural teen drama television series

Teen Wolf is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Jeff Davis for MTV. Serving as a supernatural reimagining of the 1985 film of the same name, the series is the fourth installment overall in the titular franchise. Tyler Posey portrays a young werewolf who defends his California town from supernatural creatures and other threats.

<i>Teen Wolf</i> (season 2) Season of television series

The second season of Teen Wolf, an American supernatural drama created by Jeff Davis based upon the 1985 film of the same name, premiered on June 3, 2012, and concluded on August 13, 2012, on the MTV network. The season featured 12 episodes.

Nikki Leonti-Edgar is an American singer-songwriter. Prior to her work in urban, R&B, and electronic dance music, Leonti recorded contemporary Christian music albums. She lent her vocals to over 250 songs during 4 seasons of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee.

<i>Teen Wolf</i> (season 3) Season of television series

The third season of Teen Wolf, an American supernatural drama created by Jeff Davis and to some extent, based on the 1985 film of the same name, premiered on June 3, 2013. The series was renewed for a third season of 24 episodes on July 12, 2012.

<i>Make Your Move</i> (film) 2013 American film

Make Your Move is a 2013 independent dance film starring K-pop singer BoA and ballroom dancer Derek Hough. The film was directed by Duane Adler, who wrote the script for Save the Last Dance (2001) and Step Up (2006). Hough took season twelve off of the show Dancing with the Stars to star in the film, which was shot in New York City and Toronto during the spring of 2011. Aside from the lead stars, singer Yunho from TVXQ has a cameo appearance. The film was choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo, Yako Miyamoto, and Nick Gonzalez.

<i>Teen Wolf</i> (season 4) Season of television series

The fourth season of Teen Wolf, an American supernatural drama created by Jeff Davis, premiered on June 23, 2014. The series was renewed for a fourth season of 12 episodes on October 12, 2013.

So You Think You Can Dance, an American dance competition show, returned for its twelfth season, titled So You Think You Can Dance: Stage Vs. Street, on Monday, June 1, 2015. Seventeen episodes were broadcast on the Fox Network, including episode nine on Tuesday, July 21, 2015, which was a special celebrating the tenth anniversary of the show titled "A Decade of Dance Special Edition". The sixteen regular episodes aired each week on Mondays, rather than Wednesdays as it had been in recent previous seasons. On September 14, 2015, Gaby Diaz won the competition and made history by becoming the first tap dancer to win the title.

References

  1. 1 2 "Save the Last Dance (2001) - Financial Information". the-numbers.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Julia Stiles shares best part of making 'Save the Last Dance' 20 years later". TODAY.com. January 27, 2021. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Winners Database | American Music Awards". American Music Awards. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  4. ↑ Save the Last Dance at AllMusic
  5. ↑ "various artists :: Save the Last Dance :: Hollywood Records". www.rapreviews.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Save the Last Dance". Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  7. ↑ Tribbey, Ralph (March 30, 2001). "Paramount Delivers 'Last Dance' on DVD". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2001. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Save the Last Dance". Amazon . January 24, 2017. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  9. ↑ Travers, Peter (January 12, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". Rolling Stone . Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  10. ↑ Koehler, Robert (January 8, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". Variety. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  11. ↑ Howe, Desson (January 12, 2001). "A Lively 'Last Dance'". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  12. ↑ Ebert, Roger (January 12, 2001). "Save The Last Dance movie review (2001)". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Charles (January 12, 2001). "Save the Last Dance (review)". Salon . Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  14. ↑ Caro, Mark (January 24, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on January 24, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2022– via Zap2It.com.
  15. 1 2 Morris, Wesley (January 12, 2001). "'Dance' Tries Hard to Be Hip and Fails Miserably". San Francisco Chronicle . Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  16. ↑ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (January 29, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". EW.com . Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 Rodriguez, Karla (January 12, 2021). "How This One 'Save the Last Dance' Scene Lives on In Meme Infamy". Complex Magazine . Retrieved October 21, 2023– via Yahoo!.
  18. ↑ Rob Anderson (@heartthrobert) (October 19, 2022). "The tagline really said "The only person you need to be is yourself" Save The Last Dance Movie #90s #90skids #90skid #90sthrowback #2000s". TikTok. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  19. ↑ Walcott, Escher (December 10, 2023). "Julia Stiles Makes Surprise Cameo on Saturday Night Live for Save The Last Dance Skit". People . Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Outstanding Supporting Actress for 2002 nominees - Black Reel Awards". Black Reel Awards. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  21. ↑ Hobbs, John (February 11, 2002). "Sound editors tap noms for Golden Reel Awards". Variety . Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  22. ↑ Reinstein, Mara (June 2, 2022). "The Short-Lived Reign of MTV's Best Kiss Award". The Ringer . Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  23. ↑ "2001 Teen Choice Awards". Hollywood.com. August 12, 2001. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Jury for NYC Web Series Festival". NYC Web Fest. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.