Shall We Dance? (movie), July 21, 2005, my living room

As promised, here are my thoughts on the American version of the Japanese film of the same name. This version follows the original version very closely, with a few exceptions, like the fact that the main character is a lawyer rather than an accountant. Of course Richard Gere (as John Clark, the main character) and Susan Sarandon (as his wife, Beverly) are great, and JLo does a surprisingly credible job as Paulina, the professional ballroom dancer with a mysterious past. Somewhere in the "extras" on the DVD, one of the other actors says something about how you really believe she's a championship dancer. Well, he might, but I don't. She does do a very good job, but again it's the shoulders that give it away; they're just a little stiff, just a little too high. Try as she might, JLo also doesn't quite capture the soul-searching loneliness of Mai Kishikawa, who plays the equivalent part in the Japanese version. Ok, I can't stand it any more. Consider this a plug for a documentary called The Japanese Version. This film explores Western influences on Japanese popular culture. Well, here we have an example of Japanese popular culture retooled for Americans! There's some good dancing in the movie. I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling that some of the moves Link and Bobby do in the Latin competition aren't exactly standard and probably aren't allowed. There's a steamy scene in which John and Paulina tango alone, with the lights off; you can almost see the sparks from all the energy passing between them. The music for that scene is great, but I'll have to get back to you on who it is. The soundtrack also includes a lovely song by Peter Gabriel called "Book of Love."