Save the Last Dance

Save the Last Dance
starring Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas
Director - Thomas Carter
Produced by Paramount Pictures/MTV Films
2001
image retrieved - http://heightsteenspot.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/savethelastdance1.jpg

Plot Summary

Save the Last Dance is the story of high school student and ballet dancer, Sara. The film begins on "the most important day of her life", at an audition for Julliard. Sara's mother, rushing to make it to the audition, gets into a car accident and dies.

Sara moves in with her absent father in inner-city Chicago. She leaves all of her childhood friends behind and her dream to become a ballerina. Attending a new high school where white kids are the minority, Sara meets a new group of friends. They take it upon themselves to include her in their world, and they take her to their favorite hip-hop dance club.
Having grown up in a primarily white middle-class neighborhood, Sara does not know or understand hip-hop culture or dance. Derek, a smart and handsome class mates notices Sara's inability to dance hip-hop style, he begins giving her lessons everyday after school.
These instructional sessions lead to romance, and the rest of the movie deals with the social challenges of being in a inter-racial relationship.

Comments

Sara's high school situation is somewhat unbelievable in that she is immediately excepted as the new kid on the block and embraced by the cool kids in the school. However, I think that the overall message of the movie is a positive one.
Save the Last Dance does not solely focus on the inter-racial relationship between Derek and Sara, it deals with many situational elements of life that I would argue many people can relate to. For instance, the relationship between Sara and her father at the beginning of the movie is removed, fearful and apprehensive. Throughout the movie, their relationship slowly develops into a more substantial and trusting relationship. If anything, I think that this sub-plot speaks to the slow process of trust building in any relationship.
The death of Sara's mother touches on the challenges of dealing with loss. The overall message stemming from this theme is that loss can provide us with strength and courage to face the many scary challenges of life.

The relationship between Sara and Derek is very respectful in that they are depicted as two intelligent, sensitive, perceptive yet insecure teenagers. Their relationship is not overtly sexualized, instead, they are depicted as two people who see each others inner beauty, strength and personality. I like this positive message, especially because overt sexuality seems to be the trend in today's media.
I would recommend this movie even though all of the challenges and struggles that the characters face work out, it has a classic happy ending. It would not be a movie without elements of the unbelievable, and I sometimes like those elements of escapism and hope.

Age Range - 12-18

Ranking

Saint Ralph

Saint Ralph

Directed by Michael McGowan

2004

image retrieved - http://ocio.quitua.com.mx/blogs/media/Saint%20Ralph_poster.jpg

Plot Summary

Set in Hamilton, Ontario in 1954, Saint Ralph is the story of fourteen year old Ralph Walker, a ninth grade catholic school student. Convinced that he was put on this earth to achieve greatness, Ralph finds himself on a quest to figure out where this greatness lies.
Ralph's father died as a war hero, and his mother is severly ill, in a coma, in hospital. Terrified of being left alone in the world to fend for himself, Ralph knows that it will take a miracle to wake his mother from her coma.
As punishment for getting caught performing an 'ungodly sin' in the public pool, Ralph is sent to train with the school's cross-country team. Ralph is told that it would take a miracle to win the Boston marathon. From this point forward, he is convinced that if he wins the Boston, than this 'miracle' will surely wake his mother. However, Father Hibbert (Ralph's favorite teacher) suggests in religion class one day that it take three things to perform a miracle, faith, purity and prayer.
The movie follows Ralph as he trains for the race, develops a crush on a girl, visits his mother in hospital, struggles to maintain pure thoughts and learns to pray.

Comments

This movie pulled my heart strings! Ralph's character is endearing, smart and funny. Although the movie is set in a catholic school, the overall message was not one of religious virtue per se.
Its characters are engaging, its story entertaining and its ending happy. It avoids clichés and doesn't hammer any kind of important message into the skulls of its audience.
Teens may find inspiration from Ralph. Although Ralph aims to accomplish something seemingly enormous and impossible, he sets his mind toward his goal and works really hard toward its accomplishment. I think that anybody watching this film can take something away from this lesson.
There is tons of really good Canadian music throughout the movie and I think that any audience would enjoy this film. I loved it.

Age Range - 12...............................+

Ranking