Center Stage 2 and 1/2 Stars (Out of 4) Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org May 10, 2000 USA Release Date - May 12, 2000
--A copy of this review can be found at http://moviereviews.org/center_stage.htm ---
Most films that idealize, glorify or emphasize a profession have the potential to be successful with an audience regardless of whether or not the crowd is part of that profession. Example: it is rather easy to enjoy films like `Any Given Sunday,' `For Love of the Game' and `The Color of Money' despite the fact that the average viewer has never played professional football, pitched a no-hitter or even ran a pool table. The same could be applied to films with a more artistic core – `Bullets Over Broadway,' `Bowfinger' and `This is Spinal Tap' all strike a cord with audiences even though those audiences have, most likely, never written a play, directed an independent film or been part of a heavy metal rock group. So it is that we arrive at `Center Stage,' a film that although oftentimes sexy and dazzling seems to disprove the above theory. The movie does everything in its power to be a quality piece, the actors are stellar and the plot is decent enough to pass in this era of poorly and hastily scrapped together scripts. Yet the majority of the film's hardcore dance scenes – of which there are many – are frighteningly unentertaining. The reason: it seems ballet might just be too isolated an activity for outsiders to understand or be enthusiastic about.
Ironically, it is that very incestuous nature of the art that `Center Stage' so beautifully depicts. During the course of the two-hour film, there is but a single outsider who has a prominent role – predictably enough, he faces rejection en route to ultimate acceptance. All the other figures in the film are ballet students, instructors or administrators. There is no central character but rather a handful of equally prominent people that rotate turns being the center of attention (or, should I say, taking center stage?). All part of the American Ballet Academy, a very select program at Lincoln Center, they include Jody (the beautiful and talented Amanda Schull), a young student striving to make it as a dancer; Cooper (Ethan Stiefel), a master of the art who literally fled personal problems and must now return to face them; Maureen (Susan May Pratt), a slightly more experienced pupil than Jody, who will, during the course of the film, learn that there is more to life than ballet and how much she hates her mother for forcing her into being a ballerina (there's a new one!) and Eva (Zoe Saldana), a young girl seeking direction who will only dance to the point at which she is happy and doesn't much care if that her gets her anywhere or not (notice, she is the only person in this film other than the aforementioned outsider who seems to almost have her priorities in order).
Such misplaced priorities lead to the encouragement of near-anorexia, a nonchalant attitude by most towards a bulimic character and quotes such as `I don't want to go to college, I want to dance' being ultimately rewarded. Furthermore, a sexual encounter that seems mighty improper doesn't quite receive the wrath it deserves.
Interestingly, though, such sexual side plots could have served to better the film if further explored. Had the filmmakers been willing to drop the PG-13 rating and such silly tactics as the infamous `L' shaped covers used by a couple the morning after an impromptu sexual encounter, the movie might have taken on an angle that audiences could appreciate in lieu of trying to decode the innermost workings of a ballet class filled with trade lingo that might as well be gibberish.
Still, sexual appeal most certainly is not absent from the film. The group of no-name actors and actresses are all extraordinarily attractive and talented people that teenybopper crowds will likely take an interest in. No, there probably is no Leo here, although Amanda Schull certainly could become a female equivalent, but it is no mistake that the establishing shot of the film is the number 15 – the picture's target age group.
As the movie draws to a close, the incomprehensible ballet that the audience has endured actually comes together for a rather enjoyable payoff scene – after all, anyone can enjoy a ballet recital. Memories of the classic musical `Fame' will likely come to mind and comparisons are bound to be drawn. But don't kid yourself, `Center Stage' isn't going to live forever.
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