Dance With Me

Young Cuban man Rafael comes to the U.S. to find his real father. Upon arrival, he works as a handyman at a local dance studio, and falls for one of the dance teachers who happens to be rehearsing for the annual Latin dance contest in Las Vegas. Dancing shoes pronounced, Rafael also gets the opportunity to compete in the contest. Dance and romance soon blooms.

Light, mostly corny, lengthy dance-themed movie, that does have a great soundtrack, and some good performances by the two, beautiful, charismatic leads, Chayanne and Vanessa L. Williams. I would not necessarily suggest this film for its romantic aspects, because they are pretty weak, but if you like to stare at either of the film’s main stars, and if you like the Latin vibe and/or the dancing, then you might not be totally disappointed with this movie. Having said that, the dancing sequences seemed to be absent during most of the first hour of the film, but did take over the movie, once the whole gang was transported to Las Vegas for the dance contests.

Chayanne, in his first American starring role, is the rich man’s Benicio Del Toro. He’s great looking, dresses impeccably, dances like a machine, and radiates great sensations with his full-toothed smile. He also pulls off a humorous and original tribute to Gene Kelly from SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. Vanessa L. Williams also looks great in this film, if you like girls with super-short skirts, great legs and pumps, that is. (turns out I do). There is also some chemistry between the two, but unfortunately, the screenplay is pretty lame, and doesn’t really do a great job of convincing you of their absolute compatibility. No cheap sex scenes either. Which was a bit of a letdown for most people, I think. Then again, who cares. These bastards could dance up a storm and look great doing it, so if that’s what you’re looking for, shell out your hard-earned cash, and have a blast!

One extremely funny aspect of this film, was the fact that Kris Kristofferson was actually cast as an experienced dance instructor, and a man with actual emotions. It was funny watching him move around like an ass, and squeeze his lips tight to convey emotion. On a positive note, the soundtrack was very sweet, reminded me a bit of the MAMBO KINGS (8/10) vibe, and the salsa music kept reminding me of the nacho plate that I would soon make myself, once I got home and dug into some real salsa. Having said all that, it must be said that I have never been a dancer, a fan of dance, or a fan of dance movies, but Mrs. JoBlo is. You figure out the pant-wearing scenario in that equation. For the record, she rated the film 7/10.

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian