Don't listen to the negative reviews

best movie i've ever seen.

Admirable film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Such a smart, funny, beautiful movie! Pays attention to details, has very likable actors, superb dancing, great script.Even though its a small budget movie, i just really loved how carefully they've directed it, haven't seen any goofs or superficial scripting and even though it seems predictable at first glance, it surprises in every level! I never liked Billy Zane and this is the first role that he is very cute and funny.It suits him well! This is one movie you have to see, if you are romantic and love dance! I have to write 2 more lines, i don't understand this silly rule, so let me repeat again and again, this movie is wonderful and if you like dance, comedy and romance, sit tight and enjoy the movie night!

... and I dance East Coast Swing, a simplified take on Lindy Hop, which is the real thing (West Coast borrows a few moves from East Coast/Lindy and blues dance but is actually too Hollywood in its choreography and too close to the Hustle -- FEH!), so of course the dancing fell short for me. Real swing is what you dance to Count Basie, Duke Ellington, or Benny Goodman, or even contemporary big bands. My saying so will no doubt steam the West Coast fans in the audience, but hey, dance history is what it is (look up Frankie Manning and Hellzapoppin' on Wikipedia if you want to know where it all came from). Besides, the dance scenes would have fallen short anyway, for reasons cited below. But I digress.I started off really wanting to like this movie. Honest. After all, I found the male lead appealing at first, and I'd enjoyed other dance films such as Strictly Ballroom, Center Stage, Take The Lead, and Tango Bar (I even tolerated Shall We Dance fairly well, given my usually complete disdain for Richard Gere). But no: the non-dance part of this storyline was so weak it made me cringe. OFTEN. Billy Zane was slightly less obnoxious than usual, so that was something, but not enough to offset the fact that Amy Smart seemed to be sleepwalking through the whole thing. The writing was awful. Their fight scene at home, for example, seemed sudden and oh, so contrived. So did the upset at their friends' wedding. Fake, fake, fake. You could see the consequences telegraphed a mile away. And the dance competition was even **more** Hollywood over-the-top than West Coast usually is. Mehhh. They learned ALL the wrong things from ballroom competitions.Worst of all, Amy Smart never looked like she was really getting the hang of the sense of elasticity or stretch that underlies all variations of swing -- or that she was enjoying any of it, even a little bit. If you hate dancing that much, why do a dance movie?? Don't tell me she really liked it, because you sure couldn't tell from her performance in this film. I could barely sit through it. The actual dancing by others, however, like some ballroom competitions I've seen, was expert yet mechanical. Soulless despite all the plastic smiles, sequins, and flash moves. Wasn't **anybody** really getting into it? It's like they were still showing off but all just too cool to really show they like it. Nuts!!! I've seen much more fun and energy generated by amateurs at Lindy competitions on college campuses than I saw anywhere in this film. And I kept wanting to see real Lindy Hop, so that spoiled the rest of it for me.If you want an introduction to WCS, I suppose this is as good as any; but if you were hoping for another Swing Kids (despite its inauthentic choreography) or Take The Lead, sit this one out -- it's not your kind of number, and it doesn't even have anyone like Antonio Banderas to save it. And Lindyhoppers should avoid it entirely. (It'll just annoy you too much. Better your should watch Frankie Manning clips on YouTube or video reruns from the Frankie 95 celebration. I'm just saying.)PS -- I just noticed that Tom Molloy, the lead, also wrote the script. He has a lot to answer for, in that case.

I have seen some discrepancies on the storyline stated here. I have watched this movie many times but Amy Smart's character said she took ballet between 4 and 12 years of age. I don't remember her stating she had Broadway aspirations. The movie does speak loudly about disabilities and if you buy the movie you find out that one of the dancers is deaf. Tom Malloy mentions it in the commentary he does with Amy Smart on the DVD. This was an independent movie that almost went belly up and I have to say they did a really good job. It isn't about what type of dancing is better than another but about this man who rises above it all due to his disability to become a successful dance instructor and competitor. This in no way is a chick flick. There were too many males dedicated to the making of this movie. Many who compete and love this type of dancing. This story is not like any movie I have ever seen before other than it is about dancing. It was about life. A couple are planning to marry and Amy's character wants to learn to dance for her wedding after she see's Tom Malloy's character dance where she teaches. Billy Zane's character is married to his job. Through this experience they come to find out they aren't right for each other. Tom's character and Amy's fall in love. That of course was expected and I would suppose most expected them to win the competition. Basically what they stated is they knew they weren't good enough to win a competition like that but it was that their characters tried and they won later.Tom Malloy and Amy Smart should be commended since they actually did most of the dancing in the movie and usually when their doubles came it was to do some of the lifts. They spent hours on end perfecting their dancing. Billy Zane is hilarious in this movie and a lot of his dialog was ad libbed.There were friends and family in the movie and this is pointed out in the commentary. This is one thing I prefer about owning the DVD to just watching the movie. It gives great insight to the making of the film and the amount of effort it took and why they did scenes the way they did. I loved it from the first sitting because it isn't violent, bloody, or full of foul language. It is just a good movie without all the shock value that is so prevalent these days.

Okay, so the acting is not that great and the plot is as predictable as the sun coming up every morning, but if you really want to see some superb swing dancing (though not by the main characters) then this movie is worth your time. Zane and Smart play 2 people soon to be married, but he's an Uber workaholic who does not appreciate (or even truly love?) his fiancée (she teaches middle school English classes), and we just want her to dump him, and toot sweet. Our hero is an ex-swing dance champion, now a dance teacher, and just happens to be deaf. Explaining how a deaf person can still dance to the beat of the music was explained nicely in this film, and for that I gave it a few more points. But what really makes this film is not the main stars or even the supporting cast and their various personas, but the professional dancers hired as contestants for competitions and showcases. The ending competition was well worth the wait, and something worth watching over again. Totally amazing. So put on your dance shoes and give this one a whirl.