After the death of a dance teacher occurs, a well-known dance company located in New York will soon be too broke to open its doors and will be forced to close. The death of the dance instructor encourages a reunion of past dancers, Travis (Patrick Swayze), Chrissa (Lisa Niemi), and Max (George De La Pena). This trio return to the dance company they once left in an attempt to relaunch their dancing career. But we soon learn this won’t be an easy task.
The three returning members all share a dark past with hidden reasons for leaving the dance company in the first place. Travis still suffers from a dance injury, which he hopes he can ignore and push through no matter the challenge in front of him. It’s also evident that Travis and Chrissa once had a deep romantic past which may be reignited while working together on the dance floor.
One Last Dance is best classed a drama film but certainly a dance movie. I would go as far as to say this film is more of a dance film than anything else. With the dancing more of a priority than plot, the plot outline is vague, lazy and simple. For the most part, the film doesn’t focus too much on its characters and anything it does reveal (other than a few uninteresting flashbacks) is information that was already fairly obvious right from the start of the film.
The dance sequences; however, are where the film shines wonderfully. The dance numbers were wonderful and touching to see, and visually creatively pleasing. There’s a tremendous use of lighting and clear visuals during all-dance scenes, and the film delivers a great audio mix. Generally, if you are a lover of dance, these are the moments that will impress you the most, not the plot.
As the film progresses, scenes feel disjointed and messy. The whole film feels like a mismatch of scenes when reflecting back upon completion. Certain subplots are not resolved, which wastes time for the audience and leads to the film feeling unfinished. Performances by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi (the film’s Director) are ok. Still, I cannot deny there are moments between the two that are supposed to be romantic but come across as overdramatic and cringy. Supporting actor George De La Pena as Max delivers more moments that feel touching and real, and his character is certainly more pleasing to see as the film progresses.
Overall, lovers of dance will adore this film, and I admire it for its level of creativity along with its quality of audio and the dancing. However, film lovers generally will be more baffled by this film. Disjointed scenes make the film feel more incomplete and messy. The plot is simple and vague to the point that any plot progression feels predictable and dry, and some subplots never get conclusions, making it feel like some time was wasted by watching.
5.0/10
26th Januray 2022
Written by Peter Walkden
WALKDEN ENTERTAINMENT
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