(viewed on 9/29/11)
I watched a series of musicals/dance-based movies about a month ago, starting with Strictly Ballroom. If you typically hate Baz Luhrmann, you might like this movie. It’s the least Baz Luhrmann-y of the bunch. If you typically like his films, as I do, you might like this movie too! Win, win. Visually, it’s as garish and bright as can be, which makes the world of competitive ballroom dancing even more absurd. So it’s a little cheesy with the love story, so there’s a shameless transformation of the nerdy-girl-turned-beautiful-woman by the end of the film— it’s so over the top that it’s almost a parody.
Besides, it’s the supporting characters that make Strictly Ballroom special. It’s the parents and the kids and the other dancers that I loved the most. Not one role was wasted.
And isn’t that how it should be?
