150 Word Review: 'Strictly Ballroom' (1992)
Time after time
I am a Baz Luhrmann apologist: I love all of his frenetic, in-your-face pop-music operas. But this might be his best, the most intense, and genuine expression of what makes him tick as an artist. Strictly Ballroom is a combination rom-com-slash-” we must dance!” movie, like Dirty Dancing or Footloose, set in the world of amateur competitive ballroom dancing in Australia.
Scott is being groomed for greatness, but he wants to dance his original steps, not the ones mandated by the conservative fuddy-duddys who run Sydney’s biggest ballroom contest. No one believes in him, except for Fran, the Ugly Duckling, daughter of Argentinian immigrants. Paul Mercurio’s Scott is a humorless diva who learns his steps were missing love. Tara Morice is a down-to-Earth princess as Fran. Barry Otto’s Doug, Scott’s mousy father, breaks hearts with his quivering, saucer-like eyes. The villains are flamboyant and two-dimensional. They also have ridiculous hair.
My favorite dance movie ever. The Paso Doble!
I liked this movie because I felt like it was making fun of me for how much I was going to hate it. Every other Luhrmann movie undermines my initial take (I don’t think he was having me on), but that’s still why I love it.