One Last Dance (2003)

Wonderful character development!

Just perfect...

Admirable film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This movie was probably meant for a very specific audience, one that I do not belong to. Reading these reviews here, it seems the movie was appreciated by professional dancers. I once considered myself a dance, though certainly not a professional, but I still found this movie very VERY boring. I thought that the star - Patrick Swayze - could carry any movie and could do no wrong. Well, apparently even Patrick Swayze needs some substance to make a movie a hit. I have seen other low budget films and being low budget does not necessarily mean the movie is bad. I don't think low budget is this movie's problem. This movie appeals to a very specific and narrowly defined public. It's definitely not aimed at the "average viewer". If you are not a professional dancer, or one who appreciates their world, you will probably find this movie as boring and soulless as I did.

This business of folded narrative is never so poignant as when the situations of real life are layered into a film. If you come to this just for the fictitious thread and literal presentation, you will be disappointed. It just doesn't have juice. We have an hour and a half of repetitious angst with no change, no new angles. Things just plod.There is some nice dancing by extras playing the troupe and these sections are lighted creatively. When we see the three main characters, they are dance-acting, showing emotion associated with the story.But if you encompass the whole, and allow for three layers (the real life of the actors, the story of the movie and the "story" in the dance), then you have something so endearing it hurts.We have Swayze and his wife. They met as teens in his mother's dance studio, married and have lived a partnership within the context of dance. They clearly love each other, and do so within a physical language that is partly public, but which has decades of secret motions, seeded and harvested.After a long marriage, she decides to make a film. It is a valentine for her man. It is a celebration of a relationship in dance. It is — I believe — to satisfy the desire to perform their love, not so that anyone need see it, but because the private intercourse demands it.So what does she do? She writes a story about aging dancers, estranged lovers who have conflated their fears and desires for dancing with their fears and desires for each other. As they dance, they reconnect in the love. The name of the difficult dance they are revisiting is heavily named "Without a Word." It is a simple, pure, lovely idea, and it touched me deeply. The idea.These are not good actors. They are good dancers but not great ones. Many scenes have them pretending to be better dances than they actually are but hobbled by age so the moves are more clumsy than they can achieve. It is a strange acting challenge and I suggest the movie has merits on this score alone.It also is an entry in my list of films where the director is in love with the main actor. Usually, it is an older man and a hypnotically beautiful younger woman in the early, obsessive stages of romance. This is quite, quite different.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It is a movie musical, but instead of breaking into song, the performers break into dance. This film was very well written and directed. I, however, feel that it doesn't translate well from stage to screen (I wish that I had been able to see the stage production). Or maybe the world just isn't ready for such a progressive method of storytelling. The Complexions dancers are wonderful and Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze and George de la Peña are superb dancers. The acting is certainly adequate and, at times, deeply moving. I recommend this movie to anyone with a dance background or an interest in non- traditional films.

I watch One Last Dance quite often since I purchased it. I get emotional when I watch the dance because it is so beautiful. I watch Patrick Swayze quite often and I am overwhelmed as to what all he can do. I think he is a very talented individual His wife is very talented, too. I am so glad they decided to put One Last Dance on the market because I have been trying to purchase it for quite a long time.The dancers in the film are very good, too. The story line is very emotional for me, too. I recommend this DVD to everyone I talk with about purchasing DVD's. I enjoy hearing Patrick sing--of course, I enjoy Patrick no matter what he does. The more I watch One Last Dance, the more I want to watch it. "Max" does an A-One Performance. I recommend everyone to get this One Last Dance.