TAKE THE LEAD. Antonio Banderas was excellent as Pierre Dulaine, the good looking, charming and very gentleman ballroom trainer (Pierre: I understand six languages and I speak five - all with a Spanish accent), who decided to use his skill to inculcate values into a group of troubled kids at a high school in downtown New York.
The public school was depicted as a gangster school -- each student has to go through a scanner before they actually enter class to avoid any of them carrying weapons. Students are consisting mainly of African Americans, who came from dyfunctional families, poor and not that intelligent (or at least the students don't show much interest in studies). They struggle to be a somebody in a society that favours the rich and famous. Quote principal Augustine James: "For these kids life is a fight to stay alive, and a hustle to make ends meet."
The group of troubled kids comprised of various characters. the main two are Rock and LaRhetta. they hated each other because their siblings were involved in a gang fight and both passed away as a result of that. they looked tough on the outside, but inside, they are like any other growing up teens - hopeful, rebellious but have dreams they want to achieve.
Pierre Dulaine: You can get what you want.
Rock: No, some people get what they want.
Pierre Dulaine: Those are the people who show up to get it.
What's also remarkable about them is that they also care a lot for their family and are responsible in carrying out their duties as children. Rock works so that his drunk father and mother in depression could survive, while LaRhetta studies in between commuting so that she would be able to do housechores when she reach home.
The movie started with Dulaine struggling to convince the students that he believed in their talents and that he did not see them as school drop-outs; he saw choices.
Pierre Dulaine: What I teach has value.
Ramos: Not where I live.
I enjoyed the movie for the values it promoted: self confidence, believe, persistency and respect. it gave a glimpse of how the younger generation is behaving today (at least in the States) and what a failure we adults have been in providing the role model that they are looking for. i asked myself if i've played my part in the society to make it a better place. honestly, i'm still struggling to find my role.
I admire Mr. Dulaine for his interest in the kids. for believing. for persisting. and for acting. many of us want to but we fail to just do it. It pointed again that life is about lives. amid the materialism and wealth, there are lives that are shouting "hear me out". lives that matter. more than the kind of car we drive, the house we live, the clothes we wear and the places that we hang out, it's the voice behind the face that matters. Take the lead. a story that simply says that.
Oh, btw, the dance moves were simply magnificient and beautiful! Banderas takes the credit for bringing out the beauty of ballroom dancing :)
