Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

That's Dancing! (1985)

Director: Jack Haley Jr

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This is the way to see Hollywood dance sequences: no flimsy plot or vacuous dialogue, just the dancers doing their stuff. The only problem is that the pleasure of seeing the clips themselves is compromised by the sycophantic narration (Liza Minnelli's contribution in particular) and the random chronology of the arbitrary selection. So, while we may be mesmerised by the extraordinary silent Charleston sequence from So This Is Paris or the kaleidoscopic patterns of Busby Berkeley's 42nd Street, the compilation itself is a formless mess. An extraneous ballet sequence featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov sticks out like a sore toe amid the furious tap dancing of the Nicholas Brothers, the sinuous sexiness of Cyd Charisse, and a charming ad-lib routine featuring Shirley Temple and 'Mr Bojangles'. And when the suave smoothness of Fred and Ginger in Swing Time gives way to the tight-trousered posturing of John Travolta and the gymnastic gracelessness of flashdancer Marine Jahan, the nostalgia bubble bursts.

Author: NF 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Jack Haley Jr

Producer: David Niven Jr, Jack Haley Jr

Genre(s): Musicals

Duration: 104 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.