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Center Stage
Sony Pictures Entertainment


9.0

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 47 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for language and some sensuality

Starring Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, and Peter Gallagher

A drama that follows the hopes and dreams of a tight-knit group of young dance students as they try to make a name for themselves and become stars in the fiercely competitive world of professional dance.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Carol Heikkinen
DIRECTED BY:	Nicholas Hytner
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 24, 2000 Video: October 24, 2000 Theatrical: May 12, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	115 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Ultimately the ballet performances, and notably the work of Stiefel, a star with American Ballet Theatre, are the only moments that deserve center stage.

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

Audiences will leave the theater ready to sign up for some dance classes themselves.

Newsweek Ted Gideonse

The end is predictable after the first five minutes (two, if you're smart), but the film sucks you in all the same.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Grand, juicy fun regardless, tapping as it does into some archetypal pleasure center.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Rarely has a dance movie done so many cinematic pirouettes with such a graceful sense of audience-pleasing fun.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The best dance movie since "Flashdance."

Chicago Tribune Monica Eng

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

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.

Film.com Robert Horton

There isn't a sensible reason to recommend this movie, except that its melange of clichés and conventions is embarrassingly enjoyable.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Sexy and infectious in spite of itself.

Film.com Moira Macdonald

A dopey but sweet-natured I-love-to-dance film, fits nicely into the downhill-since-"The-Red-Shoes" tradition of ballet movies.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Aiming to keep it real, the cast of the new dance casserole Center Stage sweats spunk.

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

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.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Anybody who's ever laced on toe shoes, or wanted to, will find something to take away from Center Stage.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The story is shallow stuff, but pretty entertaining until it becomes utterly preposterous.

Variety Emanuel Levy

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.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

As a Balanchine-like martinet, Peter Gallagher is a hoot, whispering to his minions about good and bad feet.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

It's so predictable, you can set your watch to when the bulimic will sneak away to the bathroom.

Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart

Only really kicks in when it is dancing, which is about half the time.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The cliched script by Carol Heikkinen plays like "Dawson's Creek" in toeshoes.

Village Voice Elizabeth Zimmer

Pays lip service to the seriousness of craft but won't let us watch the dancing.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Comes off as an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210" where, instead of spoiled rich kids, the characters are all ballet stars in the making.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

The strained romantic plot is a slow fizzle.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Has next to no story beyond some stock clichés about bulimia, stage mothers and internal affairs in the corps de ballet.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

All that artistry is surrounded by a hackish, paint-by-numbers storyline that makes the time between dance numbers seem endless.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Don't like archetypes? Wait till you meet the cliches.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Awkwardly acted.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

An ounce of self-awareness about its almost gleeful use of cliches would have improved this dance soap opera.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

A big disappointment. It's toe-tappin' tripe aimed squarely at the undiscerning Britney Spears set.

Charlotte Observer Joanne Spataro

Despite the fun dancing, sidestep Center Stage.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

All dancing and hugging and no good.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Unlikely to receive many curtain calls.

TNT RoughCut Staff

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Anna S. gave it a6:
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.

Sarah S. gave it a 10:
This is probably the best movie I've ever seen. It was both inspiring and exciting to watch

Rachel gave it a 10:
This is the best movie ever...I watch it almost everyday!! The dancers and choreography are FANTASTIC, and everytime I watch it I have to get up and dance! (I know every step and every line!!!)

Allison gave it a 10:
I LOVED LOVED this movie.. Since I'm a dancer.. this movie really inspired me to dance my heart out.. these people really are amazing!! there wounderful dancers and actors!! GOOD JOB

Sarah T. gave it a 10:
This movie is absolutely fantastic! I love dancing and drama myself so this music is wicked for me! It is the best movie i have ever seen!!!!! :D I recomend people who haven't seen this movie to go see it NOW!

Jillian M. gave it a 10:
This is the best movie I've ever seen. The dancing and acting is amazing. I will never get sick of Canter Stage.

Latassia K. gave it a 10:
I'll give it two thumbs up, 8 other fingers and 10 toes up!

Center Stage Sony Pictures Entertainment

Center Stage
Sony Pictures Entertainment