Take the Lead

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Take the Lead
Promotional poster for Take the Lead
Directed by	Liz Friedlander
Produced by	Christopher Godsick Michelle Grace Diane Nabatoff
Written by	Dianne Houston
Starring	Antonio Banderas Rob Brown Yaya DaCosta Alfre Woodard Dante Basco Jenna Dewan Marcus T. Paulk Lauren Collins
Music by	Bonnie Greenberg Swizz Beatz
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	April 7, 2006
Running time	108 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Take the Lead is a movie starring Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Alfre Woodard, Dante Basco, Marcus T. Paulk, Jenna Dewan, and Lauren Collins. The film was released in mainstream cinema on April 7, 2006. The movie also features America's Next Top Model's third-season runner-up, Yaya DaCosta.

• Tagline: Never follow.

[edit] Plot

Rock, the film's underdog protagonist, arrives at a school dance with a water-damaged ticket and is denied entrance by Mr. Temple (John Ortiz) and Principal James (Alfre Woodard). Rock leaves and encounters some thugs, who lead him to vandalize Principal James's car. Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas), a classical dance instructor, catches Rock in the act, but Rock runs away before Pierre can question him further.

For the remainder of the year, including Rock, are kept. His first class is disastrous due to the uncooperative personalities of the students, all of whom scoff at his efforts to teach them classical dance.

The next morning Pierre returns, much to the surprise of Principal James who later explains that Rock’s brother was involved with a gang war, and one of the casualties was a brother of LaRhette, who had refused to dance with Rock the day before. Later in detention, Rock has forged a doctor’s note excusing him from dancing.

At Pierre's dance studio, Caitlin is a student who is under pressure to learn to dance because her cotillion is fast approaching. Pierre invites Morgan, a highly trained but haughty student, to his detention session for a demonstration of the tango, which inspires the detention students to be more willing to learn. Caitlin decides to join the detention students for dance class and practices with Monster, another student struggling to learn.

Rock, who still refuses to dance, makes it clear to Pierre that he attends detention not to dance, but to be able to graduate. Later he is fired from his job for being late. He goes home and confronts his parents, who have been unable to provide him food since Rock's brother's death. His ailing father kicks him out of the house and he finds a new albeit dangerous job with some street thugs.

LaRhette, whose mother is a prostitute, cares for her younger siblings while her mother works. One night, LaRhette runs out of the apartment and to the school after one of her mother's clients assaults her. She practices her dancing in the basement, and runs into Rock. They fight and are caught by security. Principle James wants to suspend LaRhette and Rock, but instead agrees to give them extra detention hours with Pierre at 7 AM each day. Pierre tells the class about a dance competition which he wishes them to enter, and this is further inspiration for the detention students to learn.

The detention basement is flooded, so Pierre takes the detention students to his dance studio to practice. They are confronted by Morgan and some of Pierre's other students. The detention students are further disenchanted by the skills of Pierre's students as well as the $200 entrance fee for the contest. However, Pierre manages to provide funds for the detention students to enter.

Caitlin is unable to enter in the competition, as her cotillion is the same night, to Monster's disappointment. The two still practice together. LaRhette and Rock will compete in waltz, and Ramos and Danjou learn to share Sasha during practice.

Mr. Temple complains about the supposed waste of resources on the dance program. He brings Pierre to a meeting with the parents' association, but Pierre convinces them to keep the dance program going.

On the night of the contest, Rock has to work. He is told that he must shoot anyone who approaches the theft operation. He shoots the sprinkler system instead, setting off the alarm and causing the thugs to run away.

At the cotillion, Caitlin makes her grand entrance down the staircase and dances with Monster, surprising her mother. After they dance they make their way to the dance competition.

LaRhette is disappointed that Rock has not arrived at the competition, where a $5000 prize is at stake. Sasha, Danjou, and Ramos perform an impressive three-person tango but are disqualified for it. Surprisingly, Morgan calls it a tie and gives Sasha her trophy.

Principal James, thrilled with the success of the program, insists on making the program permanent and expanding it to more schools. Rock arrives at the last minute to dance the waltz with LaRhette, whom he kisses at the end of the waltz.

[edit] Box office and reaction

In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $12.8 million, ranking a strong third in the North American box office. Overall, it has grossed over $30 million in the United States box office,^[1] even though many critics gave it poor reviews, citing bad acting and a formulaic plot. Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times panned it as "old uninspired Hollywood hustle"^[2] while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, ranking it "D+", called the student actors "one-note cartoons" and described the combination of dance styles as "naked desperation to fuse demographics" on the part of the producers.^[3]

[edit] Soundtrack

• Label: Republic Records / Universal Records
• Original Release Date: April 4^th, 2006 (U.S.A.)

[edit] Tracks

1. "I Got Rhythm" (Take the Lead Remix) by Lena Horne – Additional vocals performed by Q-Tip
2. "Take the Lead (Wanna Ride)" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Wisin & Yandel featuring Fatman Scoop & Melissa Jiménez
3. "Feel It" by Black Eyed Peas
4. "I Like That (Stop)" by Jae Millz
5. "What You Want" by LL Cool J & Freeway
6. "These Days" by Rhymefest
7. "Here We Go" by Dirtbag
8. "Whuteva" by Remy Ma
9. "Ya Ya" (Al Stone Mix) by The Empty Heads
10. "Never Gonna Get It" by Sean Biggs featuring Topic & Akon
11. "I Like That You Can't Take That Away From Me" by Jae Millz, June Christy, Eric B. & Rakim & Mashonda
12. "Fascination" by Kem
13. Bonus Track: "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" by Sly & The Family Stone

The track played during the solo between characters Pierre Dulaine and Morgan was not included in the soundtrack, and was made specifically for the movie by Argentinian group Bailongo, called Asi se Baila el Tango.

Other tracks that are in the movie but not in the sound track are:

1. Teach me how to dance by che'nelle (the song after wanna ride)
2. La Cumparsita by Aaron Zigman (the tango between ramos, danjou and sasha)
3. Looky Looky by Tami Chynn
4. Cookie Pop (the third time pierre dulaine went to detention)
5. Baby Workout (the first time the detention kids went to pierre's studio)
6. Lil Abner from the notebook
7. What is this thing called love
8. move your body
9. cali chop
10. what you want
11. fly me to the moon
12. i got rhythm by lena horne
13. back to seabrook from the notebook
14. chop chop
15. tango mujer
16. i run shit
17. asi se baila el tango (duet between morgan and pierre)
18. para la calle
19. mooncrest from the notebook
20. mi mambo
21. moon river

[edit] Trivia

• Much of Take the Lead, including all of the exterior shots of the high school depicted in the film, was filmed in the University of Toronto Schools, a private school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

• A large portion of the soundtrack was produced by Swizz Beatz.

• When the film was released in the Philippines, Dante Basco was named as a lead actor in movie posters, alongside Antonio Banderas.

[edit] References

1. ^ Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
2. ^ Segal, Lewis. "Critic's Notebook", Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2006, p. E.34.
3. ^ Gleiberman, Owen. "Missed Step", Entertainment Weekly, April 14, 2006, p. 61.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Take the Lead at the Internet Movie Database