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Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance?

Drama · Romance · Comedy · 2004

A bored estate lawyer spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.

Movie details

Shall We Dance?

“Step out of the ordinary.”

2004 Drama · Romance · Comedy 1h 46m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

A bored estate lawyer spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Shall We Dance??

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Footloose

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Crazy, Stupid, Love.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Peter Chelsom

Written by

Audrey Wells

Richard Gere

Richard Gere

John Clark

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Paulina

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon

Beverly Clark

Stanley Tucci

Stanley Tucci

Link

Lisa Ann Walter

Lisa Ann Walter

Bobbie

Anita Gillette

Anita Gillette

Miss Mitzi

Bobby Cannavale

Bobby Cannavale

Chic

Court is in session

Put Shall We Dance? on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.