Shall We Dance?

Name: Shall We Dance?
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance, Music
Released: April 11, 1997
Duration: 136 min
Rating: 68
Cast: Kôji Yakusho, Naoto Takenaka, Tamiyo Kusakari

1997

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Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: April 11, 1997 | PG

Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Naoto Takenaka, Tamiyo Kusakari

Summary: A middle-aged workaholic's incredibly dull life takes a funny turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class -- just to meet the sexy dance teacher. But when he finally muscles up the nerve for lessons he winds up with a different instructor and her colorfully eccentric class of beginners! And now he'll have to step lightly -- and do someA middle-aged workaholic's incredibly dull life takes a funny turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class -- just to meet the sexy dance teacher. But when he finally muscles up the nerve for lessons he winds up with a different instructor and her colorfully eccentric class of beginners! And now he'll have to step lightly -- and do some fancy footwork -- if he expects to keep his new secret passion from his family and friends! (Miramax)… Expand

Director: Masayuki Suo

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance, Music

Rating: PG

Runtime: 136 min

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Critic Reviews

Stephen Hunter

But the movie has a great deal of zest and charm, and Yakusho gets so exactly that crest of melancholy that is a man’s early 40s, until he decides to go for another kind of life, that the movie is infinitely touching. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Even when the catharsis we yearn for arrives, it's tinged with restraint. But then, the true romance in Shall We Dance? is more than personal. It's the spectacle of a nation learning to dance with itself. Read full review

Empire Ian Freer

Shohei's journey from unhappy worker bee - the early scenes are cleverly sketched to show his mundane routine without ever themselves being boring - to rejuvenated free spirit is credible, actually earning the film's final emotional wallop. Irresistible. Read full review

Walter Addiego

A charming and moving film about a slightly racy subculture in a highly rule-bound society. Read full review

Richard Corliss

The film has such a weakness for the easy incongruity (short men dancing with tall women--isn't that hilarious?) that it could almost be Australian. But Shall We Dance? also has an emotional gravity; it is grounded in a middle-aged man's nagging belief that he has one last chance to grab at life. [16 June 1997, p.76]

Sarah Kerr

It's alert to its characters' constantly evolving desires in ways that high- and low-culture movies, with their strict aesthetics or their mass-market formulas, tend not to be. Read full review

B.J. Sigesmund

The film suffers dearly because of the two underwritten, emotionally unavailable characters at the film's center and when all is revealed at an amateur dance contest, the music — and the modicum of tension the movie has created — dies. Read full review

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User Reviews

RayW.

Jan 16, 2006

A perfect film. I give it an 11. I'm a guy, and this is as close to liking a "chick-flick" as I have ever gotten. This is the most charming film I've ever seen. It is so removed from the ususal Hollywood style obsessed with nauseating two-cent lines and looking "baad" or A perfect film. I give it an 11. I'm a guy, and this is as close to liking a "chick-flick" as I have ever gotten. This is the most charming film I've ever seen. It is so removed from the ususal Hollywood style obsessed with nauseating two-cent lines and looking "baad" or sickeningly sentimental trifle. "Shall We Danse" offers a small peak into the rigidity of Japanese society telling a simple and heartwarming tale devoid of overt sexual themes or even full blown romance. A great ambassador for Asian drama.… Expand

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