Shall We Dance?

The picture revolves around the life of John, (played by Richard Gere) who leads a normal life, normal wife, normal kids - and yet, he finds himself empty in a certain area of his life - where he eventually discovered his passion for dancing! And so he takes up dancing classes, meets a new bunch of friends, all this while leaving his wife (Susan Sarandon) and kids in the dark.

Meanwhile, his wife suspects he's up to no good and hired a detective to check him out. The detective character is a cute addition to the cast - the fact that he has such 'cheap' humour. Some scenes that come to mind include him shaking the crumbs off his hands after he ate into his fishtank - poor things, only crumbs?! instead of washing his hands, after which he swiftly whooshed out a comb to smooth out the hair on his half-bald head or whatever that's left of it - and his eyebrows, all this while talking to his new client, John's wife (can't remember her name). And then, out pops his sidekick assistant out of nowhere - like a cuckoo bird. Funny enough, he always manages to empathize with the situation even in his brief moment of 'popping-out', coming up with apt quotes to suit each occassion; one would raise an eyebrow, I know mine did.

Then there's the owner of the dancing school, Ms Mitzy, who each time before she starts her class approaches something that looks very much like a tabernacle - apparently it houses, among other things, shots that she takes before her class commences - especially the novice class on Wednesday nights, after which, she massages her wrinkles, put up a nice wide smile in front of the mirror and turns to face the class, hehe. I like the good balance of elements played in the picture and who'd thought JLo (as Paulina) could be capable of such grace (in dancing...) But she does look constipated most of the time...she has probably overplayed her character here...

One thing unique about this picture is how John and Paulina's relationship did not go beyond dancing partners - but people who share the same passion for dancing, although it might not seem so in the beginning; and that relationship between men and women that is platonic although so rarely exploited in movies and even in real life, is possible.

The theme of this picture is really on the true meaning and stronghold of marriage and that you marry someone to be a witness to one's life - "Your life will not go unnoticed because I'll be your witness." I give full credit to the writers for coming up with such a good expression to what marriage is. John's reason for not disclosing to his wife - he didn't want to hurt the person he treasure most by wanting to be happier. I thought it was such a terribly good reason that I'm beginning to have my suspicions - was it really his reason? Or was it, simply, a reason? Brilliant...it makes me feel like dancing! Sorry for the disconnected-ness, I got tired =)