Shall We Dance? (2004)

Get ready to rumba with Golden Globe® winner Richard Gere (Best Actor In A Musical Or Comedy, Chicago, 2003; The Hoax) and Jennifer Lopez (Monster-in-Law) in Shall We Dance? Also starring Academy Award® winner Susan Sarandon (Best Actress, Dead Man Walking, 1995; Enchanted) and Stanley Tucci (The Terminal), this delightfully sexy comedy is steppin' out in style on Blu-ray Disc™.

Meek workaholic John Clark (Gere) feels trapped in a dull, mind-numbing existence -- until the sight of a beautiful dance instructor (Lopez) inspires him to sign up for ballroom dancing lessons. Now he'll have to do some fancy footwork to keep his exciting new passion a secret. Feast your eyes on a whirlwind of color, costumes and sheer poetry in motion -- all presented in crystal clear high definition. Revel in the rhythm of music that'll have you up on your feet and feeling the beat thanks to spectacularly enhanced audio quality. Prepare to trip the light fantastic as never before on Blu-ray™ High Definition!

Something got lost in translation from 1996's critically acclaimed Japanese comedy, but the American remake of Shall We Dance? is not without charms of its own. In being transplanted from Tokyo to Chicago, the original version's subtle humor is shaken out of its cultural context, but this is an otherwise faithful adaptation in which a weary lawyer (Richard Gere) battles his mid-life crisis with ballroom dancing lessons, while his wife (Susan Sarandon) hires a private detective to see if he's cheating.

Those expecting a Jennifer Lopez showcase will be disappointed; her role as the melancholy dance instructor keeps the beautifully lovelorn J-Lo on the sidelines, while a cast of standard-issue supporting characters (especially Stanley Tucci's clandestine faux-Latin dance lover) provide a generous dose of Hollywood-ized comic relief. All of this gives Shall We Dance? a polished sheen of mainstream entertainment that many viewers---and especially ballroom dancers--will find delightfully irresistible.

--Jeff Shannon