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's character train for a Juilliard School dance audition. [2]

Contents

Released theatrically in the United States on January 12, 2001, the film received mixed reviews from critics. It 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 the 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 on her way 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 studious and responsible, something rare in his community. He dreams of attending Georgetown University and eventually becoming a pediatrician. Derek likes Sara, and decides to help her develop her dancing abilities by incorporating more hip hop into her style.

Derek takes a reluctant Sara to the Joffrey Ballet and, afterward, she confides in him about her mother and her dreams. Later, they return to the club and amaze others with their dancing. While they are 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. Chenille tells Sara that while she did not approve of the fight, 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 as the backlash becomes too much for her to handle.

Meanwhile, Derek deals with his friend Malakai, who is deeply involved in the gang lifestyle that Derek is trying to leave. Derek agrees to help Malakai execute a drive-by at the same time that Sara has an 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 angrily confronts her about it, and explains his true reasons for dumping Nikki. Remorseful, 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 get back with Sara, admitting that she knows that Sara is in love him. She 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 after director Thomas Carter saw her dance scene in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You . [3] Lacking dance experience, Stiles prepared for her role by two months of intensive training for the ballet scenes and also rehearsing the choreography for the hip hop scenes. [3] Fatima Robinson was the film's hip hop choreographer.

Soundtrack

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 still held the top spot for another week. It grossed $91,057,006 in the US alone and $131.7 million worldwide. [4]

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. [5] [6] Desson Howe of The Washington Post said that Stiles and Washington were 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." [7]

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." [8] 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." [9]

Writing for the Chicago Tribune , Mark Caro said, "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." [10]

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. [11] 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." [11] 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." [12]

Criticism

The dancing in Save the Last Dance was particularly criticized, derided as mediocre at best, and borderline offensive at worst. It was ranked with the poor dancing of similarly themed teen movies from the early 2000s such as Honey , You Got Served and Stomp the Yard . [13] Its characterization of "hip hop dancing" as amounting to 'random fingerpointing and sitting awkwardly in a chair' has spawned viral memes on social media. [13] [14]

Additionally, the plot line suggesting that Sara's subpar audition was 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. [13]

During a Weekend Update segment on the December 9, 2023 episode of Saturday Night Live , comedian Chloe Fineman did Stiles's dance from the end of the film with Stiles, who made a surprise cameo on the show. [15]

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

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on June 19, 2001. [21] It was re-released on DVD on January 24, 2017. [22]

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">Phoebe Cates</span> American actress (born 1963)

Phoebe Belle Cates Kline is an American retired actress, who appeared in films such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Gremlins (1984), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Drop Dead Fred (1991) and Princess Caraboo (1994).

<i>10 Things I Hate About You</i> 1999 film by Gil Junger

10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger in his film directorial debut and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith is a modernization of William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s American high school setting. The film follows new student Cameron James (Gordon-Levitt) who is smitten with Bianca Stratford (Oleynik) and attempts to get bad boy Patrick Verona (Ledger) to date her antisocial sister Kat (Stiles) in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating. Named after a poem Kat writes about her romance with Patrick, the film was mostly shot in the Seattle metropolitan area, with many scenes filmed at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bianca Lawson</span> American actress

Bianca Lawson is an American actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars, and Rogue. She has also had recurring roles in the series Sister, Sister, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and Witches of East End. In 2016, Lawson began starring in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Queen Sugar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elise Neal</span> American actress

Elise Demetria Neal is an American actress. In 1997, she made her big break appearing in three films, Rosewood, Money Talks and Scream 2.

<i>Step Up</i> (film) 2006 film by Anne Fletcher

Step Up is a 2006 American teen romantic dance drama film directed by Anne Fletcher from a screenplay by Duane Adler and Melissa Rosenberg and a story by Adler. The film stars Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Mario, Drew Sidora, Damaine Radcliff, and Rachel Griffiths.

<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 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 known for her breakthrough role as Esther in the horror film Orphan (2009) and its prequel Orphan: First Kill (2022). She plays Clove in the dystopian adventure film The Hunger Games (2012), Alex in the independent film The Novice (2021), and Diamond in the Western film series Horizon: An American Saga (2024–present).

<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.

Dance Academy is an Australian teen drama television series produced by Werner Film Productions in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ZDF. Series one premiered on 31 May 2010, and series two began airing on 12 March 2012. Series three premiered on ABC3 on 8 July 2013 in Australia.

<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>Bunheads</i> American comedy-drama television series

Bunheads is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Lamar Damon that aired on ABC Family from June 11, 2012, to February 25, 2013. Starring Sutton Foster, the show centers on a Las Vegas showgirl who gets married on a whim and winds up teaching alongside her new mother-in-law at her ballet school. On July 22, 2013, ABC Family canceled the series after one season.

<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 romance drama 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Thompson (Canadian actress)</span> Canadian actress

Sara Thompson is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the TV series Burden of Truth (2018–2019), The 100 (2019–2020) and One of Us Is Lying (2021–2022).

<i>Teen Wolf: The Movie</i> 2023 American supernatural thriller film

Teen Wolf: The Movie is a 2023 American supernatural thriller drama film directed by Russell Mulcahy and written by Jeff Davis. The film is the fifth installment in the franchise, and is a continuation of the MTV series Teen Wolf. The movie includes most of the cast reprising their roles, including Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Tyler Hoechlin, Holland Roden, Colton Haynes, Shelley Hennig, Dylan Sprayberry, Linden Ashby, Melissa Ponzio, and JR Bourne. It follows werewolf Scott McCall (Posey) as he protects his California town from an old threat.

References

  1. 1 2 "Save the Last Dance (2001) - Financial Information". the-numbers.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ Save the Last Dance (2001) ⭐ 6.2 | Drama, Music, Romance . Retrieved December 12, 2024– via m.imdb.com.
  3. 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.
  4. ↑ "Save the Last Dance". Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  5. ↑ Travers, Peter (January 12, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". Rolling Stone . Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  6. ↑ Koehler, Robert (January 8, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". Variety. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  7. ↑ Howe, Desson (January 12, 2001). "A Lively 'Last Dance'". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Taylor, Charles (January 12, 2001). "Save the Last Dance (review)". Salon . Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. 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.
  12. ↑ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (January 29, 2001). "Save the Last Dance". EW.com . Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  13. 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!.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ "Outstanding Supporting Actress for 2002 nominees - Black Reel Awards". Black Reel Awards. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ "2001 Teen Choice Awards". Hollywood.com. August 12, 2001. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Jury for NYC Web Series Festival". NYC Web Fest. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ "Save the Last Dance". Amazon . January 24, 2017. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. 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.