Trying to Be Fame-ish
FILM: Center Stage
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Hynter
STARRING: Amanda Schull, Sascha Radetsky
GRADE: B+
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'I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER!' BALLET STAR ETHAN STIEFEL PLAYS BALLET STAR COOPER NEILSON IN CENTER STAGE.
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I have complained in this space often enough about my frustrations with
Hollywood's reliance on formula. But I have to confess that one formula works
for me most every time. Usually, it appears in sports films like David
Anspaugh's Hoosiers or Peter Yates' Breaking Away, where
underdogs accomplish the seemingly impossible and win championships they
obviously shouldn't, or even better, John Avildsen's original Rocky,
where the underdog triumphs not by claiming a title but simply by giving his
all and accomplishing far more than anyone expected. In Anspaugh's Rudy,
the formula is executed so that the triumph comes not from victory but by
merely making the team, loving the contest enough to thrill just in getting to
play the game. Ramon Menendez's Stand and Deliver, perhaps my
favorite of such films, doesn't even have anything to do with sports, but
rather is the story of a group of underprivileged, mostly minority students
rising to the challenge of the advanced placement exam in calculus. Now to that
list (which is embarrassingly long, actually), I must add Nicholas Hytner's
Center Stage. I don't think there's a genuine surprise in the whole
film, but it left me cheering anyway. So I'm a sap. I own up to it.
Written by Carol Heikkinen, Center Stage immediately will
recall Alan Parker's Fame in that it concerns a group of students at an
elite school for the performing arts, in this case the American Ballet Academy.
Typically, the three principal women just happen to be roommates. Blond,
all-American Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull) arrives fresh-faced and bubbly from
the Midwest determined to succeed despite the concerns of her loving parents
who don't want her to be disappointed. African-American beauty Eva Rodriguez
(Zoe Saldana) comes from Boston with a chip on her shoulder the size of Fenway
Park. She's sure she's got talent and just as sure it won't be recognized.
These two are housed with veteran ABA student Maureen Cummings (Susan May
Pratt), a steely perfectionist with perfect technique. Maureen's driven mother
has been pushing her toward a professional career in ballet since Maureen was
3, and Maureen is said to be the one ABA student with a lock on an invitation
into the company of the American Ballet Theater.
Joining these girls (and several others we get to know less well)
are a gaggle of guys -- Charlie (Sascha Radetsky), Sergei (Ilia Kulik) and Erik
(Shakiem Evans) -- who function as friends and romantic possibilities. Also
important are ABT star Cooper Nielson (played by the astonishingly gifted ABT
star Ethan Stiefel), who choreographs a workshop for the students; Jonathan
Reeves (Peter Gallagher), the acerbic artistic director more interested in his
own glory than in shepherding his charges; and Juliette Simone (Donna Murphy),
the stern teacher with a soft heart.
The picture takes us through the expected paces. Jody tries too
hard and gets humiliated. Eva flips everybody off and gets in trouble.
Maureen acts the bitch and ends up despised. We see the shredded
feet, the secret bulimia and the girl who has to quit because she can't
control her weight. We also witness the required hard work and the
incredible pressure these talented young people have to endure. A hokey
development substitutes one dancer for another in a critical performance. But
you forgive this picture everything when Jody, Cooper and Charlie perform
the dazzlingly sexy final number. The movie has important things to say
about the difference between artistic talent and artistic soul. And man,
can these people dance.
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