January 16, 2005

Taking its name from the classical melody bearing the same name, Shall We Dance? stars Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere, in his usual role as a middle-aged man passing through a mid-life crisis. Directed by Peter Chelsom, the movie, if anything, sends out an important message to loveless single men everywhere: learn to dance!

Passing by a struggling dance school on his way home from work, John (Gere), a 40-something businessman, notices a beautiful dance teacher, Paulina (Lopez) staring out of the school window. Taken aback by her beauty, he signs up for classes in order to get to know her better. As his skill as a dancer improves, John is eventually convinced to sign up for the Chicago Ballroom Dance competition, and soon realizes that dancing might just be the spark needed to revive his failing marriage.

An all-star cast and a novel storyline prove to be invaluable for an otherwise average movie. Perhaps the ideal family flick, with almost no swearing, gesturing or making out, Shall We Dance?, however, is certainly not what action-craving teens would consider a success.—Amyn Bhaman
 

Birth

Director and co-writer Jonathan Glazer follows his smashing 2002 debut, Sexy Beast, with Birth, an ‘R’ rated supernatural thriller. A mesmerizing mind-teaser, the theme of the movie revolves around reincarnation. It stars Nicole Kidman (Anna) as a grieving widow, who is caught between the possibility of a return of her dead husband and a possessive fiance insistent on marriage.

Anna, in an attempt to move on from the memory of her husband, has agreed to marry Joseph (Danny Huston), when a sombre 10-year old, Sean (Cameron Bright), turns up on the couple’s doorstep, claiming to be her husband back from the dead. Taking it as a joke at first, Anna gets increasingly alarmed, as the uncanny knowledge and grave demeanour of the young boy serves to build proof of his claim. Despite herself, Anna slowly starts believing the boy. Joseph reacts predictably, becoming jealous and agitated by Sean amidst the apparent absurdity of it.

Here the film presents a subplot involving a couple (Anne Heche and Peter Stormare) who were close friends of the dead man. The film gradually unfolds into a fierce psychological drama. The movie stumbles in spots and has an unsettling finish, alive with possibilities of what has happened and what it all means.—Humna Ishtiaq

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