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Shyam G. Menon

Mumbai , Feb. 8

THE nice thing about Shall We Dance is that it gives us all an invitation for just that. The film weakens itself by bringing a big brand to the waltz.

Richard Gere stars as John Clark, a man with a wonderful job, charming wife (Susan Sarandon) and loving family, who still feels that something is missing as he makes his way through the city each day.

"Every evening on his commute home, John sees a beautiful woman (Jennifer Lopez) 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 dance lessons hoping to meet her,'' so says the official statement.

While the film moves from there to more dance and a dance competition, it also tries to weave in John's wife's suspicion of what he is up to and a rather difficult-to-digest deeper side to the instructor Paulina, played by Lopez. Which is misplaced hope as big brands like Lopez are too much of everything and their acting is usually subservient to brand value.

Paulina is at first a frozen `lost expression' at a studio window, then startles with manic advice on how to dance, sheds a few tears, offers a flashback into her life and finally leaves the country! Rather too much to accommodate in a film, you would agree, particularly when Sarandon and Gere have their story to squeeze in too.

So in the end what you get is a bit of everybody, some dance, some music — but a lot of desire to get out and shake a leg. Not that the dance is riveting — you have seen better pieces on film, especially that tango by Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman — but Shall We Dance is true to the `we' in it. Barring Lopez who appears to be showcased, everyone else has a character of believable dimension, someone likely lurking in your own life.

Watch this film for Stanley Tucci. He is funny and can dance, which speaks of versatility when contrasted with the roles he has played before. The film is to be released here on February 11.

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