Take the Lead
- For the song, see Take the Lead (Wanna Ride).
| Take the Lead | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Take the Lead |
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| Directed by | Liz Friedlander |
| Produced by | Christopher Godsick Michelle Grace Diane Nabatoff |
| Written by | Dianne Houston |
| Starring | Antonio Banderas Rob Brown Yaya DaCosta Alfre Woodard Dante Basco Jenna Dewan Marcus T. Paulk Lauren Collins Katya Virshilas |
| Music by | Bonnie Greenberg Swizz Beatz |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | April 7, 2006 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Take the Lead is a movie starring Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Alfre Woodard, Dante Basco, Marcus T. Paulk, Jenna Dewan, Lauren Collins and also features former America's Next Top Model contestant, Yaya DaCosta. The film was released in mainstream cinema on April 7, 2006. Although based in New York City, the film was filmed in Toronto, and used stock footage of various New York City locations. The movie is based on the life of Pierre Dulaine, a well-known ballroom dancer and a dance instructor, known for 'Dancing Classrooms'.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Rock (Rob Brown), the film's underdog protagonist, arrives at a school dance with a water-damaged ticket and is denied entrance by Mr. Temple (John Ortiz) and Principal James (Alfre Woodard). Rock leaves and encounters some thugs, who lead him to vandalize Principal James' car. Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas), a classical dance instructor, catches Rock in the act, but Rock runs away before Pierre can question him further.
The next morning at the school, Pierre waits to see the principal as Mr. Temple discusses the detention program with Principal James. As he waits, he repeatedly opens doors for women and even stand as they walk by. A student, Eddie (Marcus T. Paulk) ridicules him for it, but Pierre stands his ground, and Eddie is seen opening a door for a girl when Pierre is called in to the principal's office.
Pierre explains to the principal that he was a witness to the vandalism on her car, and eventually offers to take over Mr. Temple's detention shift, to which Principal James agrees, although she is sure that he will not last more than a day. She even wagers five dollars that he will not last. Pierre is led to the basement where the students who have earned detention for the remainder of the year, including Rock, are kept. His first class is disastrous due to the uncooperative personalities of the students, all of whom scoff at his efforts to teach them classical dance.
They ridicule his choice of music, and when he tries to pair them together, various relationships between the students are revealed, including a love triangle, two cousins, and the fact that LaRhette and Rock hate each other.
The next morning Pierre returns, much to the surprise of Principal James who later explains that Rock’s brother was involved with a gang war, and one of the casualties was a brother of LaRhette (Yaya DaCosta), who had refused to dance with Rock the day before. Later in detention, Rock has forged a doctor’s note excusing him from dancing. At Pierre's dance studio, Caitlin (Lauren Collins) is a student who is under pressure to learn to dance because her cotillion is fast approaching. Though she loves to dance, she is clumsy and feels like a failure, envying Morgan her graceful sensuality and saying to Pierre that, "She's like sex on hardwood." This gives Pierre an idea on how to reach out to the detention kids.
Pierre invites Morgan (Katya Virshilas), a highly trained but haughty student, to his detention session for a demonstration of the tango, which inspires the detention students to be more willing to learn. Caitlin decides to join the detention students for dance class and practices with Monster, another student struggling to learn. Though the other students accuse her of wanting to "tell her upperclass friends that she's slumming," at first, they gradually learn to accept her after she admits that she feels better with them than with Morgan and her group.
Rock, who still refuses to dance, makes it clear to Pierre that he attends detention not to dance, but to be able to graduate. Pierre tries to reach out to him but Rock storms away. Later he is fired from his job for being late. He goes home and confronts his parents, who have been unable to provide him food since Rock's brother's death. His drunken father kicks him out of the house and he finds a new albeit dangerous job with some street thugs. LaRhette, daughter of a prostitute who has been impregnated numerous times, cares for her younger siblings while her mother works the streets. One night, LaRhette runs out of the apartment and to the school after one of her mother's clients attempts to rape her. She practices her dancing in the basement, and runs into Rock. They fight and are caught by security. Principal James wants to suspend LaRhette and Rock, but instead agrees to give them extra detention hours with Pierre at 7:30 AM each day. Pierre tells the class about a dance competition which he wishes them to enter, and this is further inspiration for the detention students to learn.
The detention basement is flooded, so Pierre takes the detention students to his dance studio to practice. They are confronted by Morgan and some of Pierre's other students. The detention students are further disenchanted by the skills of Pierre's students as well as the $200 entrance fee for the contest. However, Pierre manages to inspire them again and promises to provide funds for the detention students to enter.
Caitlin is unable to enter in the competition, as her cotillion is the same night, to Monster's disappointment. The two still practice together, and their relationship deepens. LaRhette and Rock will compete in waltz, and Ramos and Danjou learn to share Sasha during practice. Mr. Temple complains about the supposed waste of resources on the dance program. He brings Pierre to a meeting with the parents' association, but Pierre convinces them to keep the dance program going after demonstrating how ballroom teaches the students "teamwork, respect, and dignity." On the night of the contest, Rock has to work. He is told that he must shoot anyone who approaches the theft operation. He shoots the sprinkler system instead, setting off the alarm and causing the thugs to run away. At the cotillion, Caitlin makes her grand entrance down the staircase and dances with Monster, surprising her mother. After they dance they make their way to the dance competition.
LaRhette is disappointed that Rock has not arrived at the competition, where a $5000 prize is at stake. Sasha, Danjou, and Ramos perform an impressive three-person tango but are disqualified for it because it is a partner dance. Surprisingly, Morgan calls it a tie and gives Sasha her trophy. Principal James, thrilled with the success of the program, insists on making the program permanent and expanding it to more schools. Rock arrives at the last minute to dance the waltz with LaRhette, whom he kisses at the end of the waltz. The movie ends with Pierre's students dancing to hip hop music as the credits roll.
[edit] Cast
- Antonio Banderas - Pierre Dulaine
- Rob Brown - Rock: The brother of a teenager who died because of drugs, he has a longstanding feud with LaRhettee, who's brother was allegedly the drug dealer. He lives in a poor neighborhood and supports his family. His father has been drunk since Rock's brother died and is violent. Rock wants nothing more than to own his own, "clean" place one day and to be nothing like his father. Despite this loathing, he still feels a duty towards his family and slips money through the door even when his father kicks him out.
- Yaya DaCosta - LaRhettee: Sassy and aggressive, she's shown to be both fierce and nurturing. Since her mother works as a prostitute, she takes care of her younger siblings, cooking for them and helping her younger brother with his homework. Despite knowing her mother's profession, she is fiercely protective of her and refuses to let anyone blacken her name.
- Alfre Woodard - Principal Augustine James: No-nonsense and jaded, this woman is tough, hardened, and supremely dedicated to doing whatever she can to keep her school as safe as possible. She's shown to be an amazing and effective principal, balancing situations and knowing the name of almost every student, as well as their histories. She thinks of Pierre as an idealistic dreamer at first, but grows to respect him and his class.
- John Ortiz - Mr. Temple: A teacher who cares about academics and academics only, he believes that the school should focus more on students who actually deserve help than to spend extra time with the delinquents. Despite proclaiming the Pierre's dance classes are taking up time that the delinquent students should be spending studying, he was the one who refused to supervise detention the day that Pierre was hired. He later gathers a petition and attempts to have Pierre's classes terminated, but is overruled when Pierre proves the value of his classes.
- Laura Benanti - Tina
- Jasika Nicole - Egypt
- Dante Basco - Ramos: Proud, cocky, and an obvious leader, he is openly flirtatious and a good dancer. He obviously wants Sasha, which leads to him constantly goading Danjou and making sexual comments to Sasha.
- Elijah Kelley - Danjou: A quieter, less cocky young man, he has trouble dancing and is less aggressive than Ramos. He holds all his frustration inside, which finally explodes after Ramos makes one comment too many, which leads to a fistfight between the two.
- Jenna Dewan - Sasha: Sasha is pretty and a talented dancer who's caught in a love triangle with Danjou and Ramos. She repeatedly stands up for Danjou when Ramos mocks his lack of dancing skills and is obviously frustrated by the immature sniping between the two.
- Brandon D. Andrews - Monster: A large, overweight boy with a heart as soft as a teddy bear, Monster is self-conscious but sweet. He becomes a very close friend to Caitlyn and doesn't hesitate to separate Ramos and Danjou after they start fighting.
- Lauren Collins - Caitlin: Awkward and clumsy, she nevertheless loves to dance, though she feels out of place with Morgan and the other "better" dancers. She feels pressured by her mother and father, as well as their expectations of her.
- Marcus T. Paulk - Eddie: A childish young man who is allegedly a thief, like with the new stereo system in detention. He can D.J. and when the competition was over he snuck over to the stereo and turned on rap music, which everyone danced to. He danced with Egypt in the competition.
- Katya Virshilas - Morgan: An extremely talented dancer who moves both gracefully and sensually, she is arrogant and rude to the delinquent kids, whom she dismisses as "nobodies with no talent."
- Jonathan Malen - Kurd: A self-proclaimed "player," he is at first disappointed with Pierre's choice to pair him with Big Girl, but gradually falls in love with her.
- Shawand McKenzie - Big Girl: Monster's cousin, she is at first openly disgusted by Kurd's blatant sexual behavior, going so far as to wear gloves when she is forced to dance with him.
[edit] Box office and reaction
In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $12.8 million, ranking a strong third in the North American box office. Overall, it has grossed over $30 million in the United States box office,[1] even though many critics gave it poor reviews, citing bad acting and a formulaic plot. Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times panned it as "old uninspired Hollywood hustle"[2] while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, ranking it "D+", called the student actors "one-note cartoons" and described the combination of dance styles as "naked desperation to fuse demographics" on the part of the producers.[3]
[edit] Soundtrack
| Take the Lead (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||
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| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | ||
| Released | March 28, 2006 | |
| Recorded | 2005-2006 | |
| Genre | Hip hop, R&B, dance | |
| Length | 43:59 | |
| Label | Republic/Universal 0006372 |
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| Producer | Various | |
| Singles from Take the Lead OST | ||
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[edit] Track listing
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Got Rhythm" | Lena Horne & Q-Tip | |
| 2. | "Take The Lead (Wanna Ride)" (feat. Wisin & Yandel, Fatman Scoop & Melissa Jiménez) | Bone Thugs-n-Harmony | |
| 3. | "Feel It" | The Black Eyed Peas | |
| 4. | "I Like That (Stop)" | Jae Millz | |
| 5. | "These Days" | Rhymefest | |
| 6. | "Here We Go" | Dirtbag | |
| 7. | "Whuteva" | Remy Ma | |
| 8. | "Ya Ya" | The Empty Heads | |
| 9. | "Never Gonna Get It" (feat. Topic & Akon) | Sean Biggs | |
| 10. | "I Like That You Can't Take That Away From Me" | Jae Millz, June Christy, Eric B. & Rakim & Mashonda | |
| 11. | "Fascination" | Kem | |
| 12. | "Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) Bonus Track" | Sly & The Family Stone |
[edit] References
- ^ "Boxofficemojo.com". http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=takethelead.htm. Retrieved April 26, 2006.
- ^ Segal, Lewis (April 16, 2006). "Critic's Notebook". Los Angeles Times. p. E.34.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (April 14, 2006). "Missed Step". Entertainment Weekly. p. 61.
