Shall We Dance? (2004 film)
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| Shall We Dance? | |
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| Directed by | Peter Chelsom |
| Written by | Audrey Wells |
| Starring | Richard Gere Jennifer Lopez Susan Sarandon Stanley Tucci Lisa Ann Walter |
| Music by | John Altman |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) | October 15, 2004 |
| Running time | 106 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Shall We Dance? is an American motion picture released in 2004. It is a remake of the award-winning Masayuki Suo 1996 Japanese film, Shall We Dansu?.
It was rated PG-13 by the MPAA. It has a runtime of about 106 min. The film had a US gross of just under $60 million during its run, but worldwide it grossed $180 million.
It was filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and Chicago.
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[edit] Plot
John Clark (Richard Gere) is a man with a wonderful job, a charming wife and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his commute home through Chicago, John sees a beautiful woman staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for ballroom dancing lessons, hoping to meet her. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), but the older Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette), and John proves just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago's biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) becomes suspicious. With his secret about to be revealed, John has to do some fancy footwork to keep his dream going and realize what it is he really yearns for.
[edit] Cast and comparisons
A number of changes were made from the original 1996 film, Shall We Dansu?.
| Shall We Dansu, 1996 | Shall We Dance, 2004 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shohei Sugiyama (Kōji Yakusho), an accountant | John Clark (Richard Gere), a lawyer | In the original, Sugiyama's secrecy is partly due to cultural ideas about dancing. In the remake, John's secrecy is because he doesn't want to hurt his wife. He loves her but feels a need to dance. |
| Mai Kishikawa (Tamiyo Kusakari) | Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) | In the original, Mai's father is a dance instructor who owns the Kishikawa school. In the remake, Paulina's father is a dry-cleaner. |
| Tomio Aoki (Naoto Takenaka) | Link Peterson (Stanley Tucci) | In the original, Aoki's shame was based upon cultural fears related to ballroom dancing. In the remake, Link's shame was based upon cultural fears which connect dancing with homosexuality. |
| Toyoko Takahashi (Eriko Watanabe) | Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter) | There is not much difference between the original and the remake. Bobbie is actually very much the American version of the loud dance addict Toyoko. |
| Tokichi Hattori (Yū Tokui) | Chic (Bobby Cannavale) | In the original, Hattori is a proud and self-proclaimed dance enthusiast who wanted to please his wife, who herself is into ballroom dancing. In the remake, Chic wanted to dance to pick up women but later found out otherwise. |
| Masahiro Tanaka (Hiromasa Taguchi) | Vern (Omar Benson Miller) | In the original, Tanaka did not begin with a girlfriend. In the remake, Vern states that he wants to learn to dance to impress his fiance. |
| Tamako Tamura (Reiko Kusamura) | Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette) | In the original Tamako was a senior instructor. In the remake, Miss Mitzi is the owner of the school. |
| Masako Sugiyama (Hideko Hara) | Beverly Clark (Susan Sarandon) | In the original, Masako is the typical devoted and softspoken wife of a Japanese salaryman. The remake made sure that Beverly Clark would be the typical working mom that American audiences would relate to and with much sympathy for her romanticism. |
[edit] Reception
Shall We Dance received a 48% rating from Rotten Tomatoes (Fresh: 70 Rotten: 75). [1] Roger Ebert stated in the Chicago Sun Times that "I enjoyed the Japanese version so much I invited it to my Overlooked Film Festival a few years ago, but this remake offers pleasures of its own." [2]
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
