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Center Stage
Metascore
52 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 33 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 33
  3. Negative: 4 out of 33
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  1. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    91
    Ultimately the ballet performances, and notably the work of Stiefel, a star with American Ballet Theatre, are the only moments that deserve center stage.
  2. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    80
    Grand, juicy fun regardless, tapping as it does into some archetypal pleasure center.
  3. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Jean Oppenheimer
    80
    Audiences will leave the theater ready to sign up for some dance classes themselves.
  4. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: Ted Gideonse
    80
    The end is predictable after the first five minutes (two, if you're smart), but the film sucks you in all the same.
  5. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    The movie uses the materials of melodrama, but is gentle with them; it's oriented more in the real world, and doesn't jack up every conflict and love story into an overwrought crisis.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Monica Eng
    75
    Although the film's ending is a little too neat and happy to be realistic, it does leave you with the feeling of young girls taking charge of their lives.
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    Rarely has a dance movie done so many cinematic pirouettes with such a graceful sense of audience-pleasing fun.
  8. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    The best dance movie since "Flashdance."
    All this critic's reviews
  9. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Robert Horton
    70
    There isn't a sensible reason to recommend this movie, except that its melange of clichés and conventions is embarrassingly enjoyable.
  10. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Moira Macdonald
    70
    A dopey but sweet-natured I-love-to-dance film, fits nicely into the downhill-since-"The-Red-Shoes" tradition of ballet movies.
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    Sexy and infectious in spite of itself.
  12. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Desmond Ryan
    63
    Modestly entertaining when it is engaged in such a celebration onstage, but it trips up when the action moves backstage, where bad dialogue ... lurks in the shadows.
    All this critic's reviews
  13. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    Aiming to keep it real, the cast of the new dance casserole Center Stage sweats spunk.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    Anybody who's ever laced on toe shoes, or wanted to, will find something to take away from Center Stage.
    All this critic's reviews
  15. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    60
    The story is shallow stuff, but pretty entertaining until it becomes utterly preposterous.
  16. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    50
    Comes off as an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210" where, instead of spoiled rich kids, the characters are all ballet stars in the making.
    All this critic's reviews
  17. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    50
    Don't like archetypes? Wait till you meet the cliches.
  18. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Stack
    50
    The strained romantic plot is a slow fizzle.
  19. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    50
    It's so predictable, you can set your watch to when the bulimic will sneak away to the bathroom.
    All this critic's reviews
  20. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    50
    All that artistry is surrounded by a hackish, paint-by-numbers storyline that makes the time between dance numbers seem endless.
    All this critic's reviews
  21. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    50
    As a Balanchine-like martinet, Peter Gallagher is a hoot, whispering to his minions about good and bad feet.
  22. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    Has next to no story beyond some stock clichés about bulimia, stage mothers and internal affairs in the corps de ballet.
  23. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    50
    The cliched script by Carol Heikkinen plays like "Dawson's Creek" in toeshoes.
    All this critic's reviews
  24. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Zimmer
    50
    Pays lip service to the seriousness of craft but won't let us watch the dancing.
  25. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Jan Stuart
    50
    Only really kicks in when it is dancing, which is about half the time.
  26. Variety
    Reviewed by: Emanuel Levy
    50
    Unfortunately, Center Stage is directed and shot (by Geoffrey Simpson) in a way that doesn't let the audience feel the exhilarating pull of the dance world.
  27. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    50
    Awkwardly acted.
  28. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    40
    A big disappointment. It's toe-tappin' tripe aimed squarely at the undiscerning Britney Spears set.
    All this critic's reviews
  29. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    40
    An ounce of self-awareness about its almost gleeful use of cliches would have improved this dance soap opera.
  30. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Joanne Spataro
    38
    Despite the fun dancing, sidestep Center Stage.
  31. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    All dancing and hugging and no good.
  32. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    20
    Unlikely to receive many curtain calls.
  33. TNT RoughCut
    Reviewed by: Staff
    0
    While movie reviewers like to throw around the line, "This is the worst movie I've ever seen," this movie may be the worst movie I've ever seen.
    All this publication's reviews
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
9.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. AnnaS.
    6
    The acting is terrible, the choreography only shines in short slips of Ballanchine or MacMillan, and the cinematography during the dance sequences frequently cuts annoyingly away to reaction shots of the (wooden) actors watching in the wings or the lobby. Nonetheless, the film is well worth watching for one reason, and his name is Ethan Stiefel. Widely regarded as one of the world's foremost technical artists when the film was shot, his dancing is outstanding. He steals every scene in which he appears. Fellow American Ballet Theatre alum Sasha Radetsky, playing a romantic rival, also acquits himself well onstage. Curiously, the female lead dancer is far less technically skilled than the two leading men, which lends the film an odd dynamic. In a picture where so much character exposition relies on dance, it's strange to have two men so blatently steal a number that's supposed to be about female empowerment. The too-brief appearances by Julie Kent (an ABT principal) are the only time that a fellow dancer can keep up with Stiefel, but those scenes are well worth watching. One wishes that Kent had played the female star of the film instead of the utterly unremarkable Amanda Schull, just so that we might see more of the snarky, graceful sense of humor that she brings to her small role.… Full Review »
  2. EmilyB.
    10
    Fabulous from start to finish!
  3. MollyC.
    10
    This is my favorite movie. I've watched it 7 times already this week!
See all user reviews »