This weekend was a musical marathon in the house... it's been raining for three straight days, again, and so naturally I started with Singing in the Rain, segued into High School Musical, and finished up with Moulin Rouge!... but only up to the happy "ending". So this morning I decided to give Strictly Ballroom a try.
Unfortunately everything I dislike about Moulin Rouge! is also in this picture... loud, over-the-top obnoxious people in bad blue eyeshadow interrupting perfectly good musical and dance numbers. It works a little better in Ballroom because it contrasts the artificial hypocrisy of the competitive dance world with the natural, organic style of dancing that Scott and Fran want to do. It's a movie about not living your life in fear, and doing what's in your heart instead of what others expect you to do.
In that sense, it's a good movie. The scenes where Fran and Scott are practicing are heartwarming and lovely, and the winning-over of Fran's father and her grandmother is a great scene.
However, the constant interruption of raucous, over-the-top bad acting by Scott's mother, the dance Federation president and his wife, and studio owner Les, makes me feel like I'm watching a very, very long Twisted Sister music video.
Since a lot of this movie is visual, this is not a good movie to knit to. I stopped my eyeroll count when I was barely into it, as I was doing it constantly. The weeping and wailing of the female dancers, agonizing over how Scott was acting, that alone was enough.
I give this movie a three out of five stars. If you really need background noise while you concentrate on a difficult project, and you can tune out minah-bird level screeching and wailing by distraught stage mothers, then go ahead and stream this on Netflix. Even at $6 for the DVD, I don't know if I'd ever add this to my collection.
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