Waste of time

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Center Stage (2000): Dir: Nicholas Hytner / Cast: Peter Gallagher, Zoe Saldana, Amanda Shull, Susan Mary Pratt, Ethan Stiefel: Insightful look at the arts and the struggles and ambition that young people who embark upon this as a career move. Title indicates that those who participate are gearing towards the top of their form. It is not the masterpiece that Fame is but it is structured in similar fashion with students assembled at the school of the performing arts in hopes of acceptance. Those who succeed will be part of a dance program where their skills will be applied to theatre arts. Plot is thin and structure is predictable but the climaxing play is a steal. Directed by Nicholas Hytner who made mediocre The Object of My Affection. The dance numbers are done with great passion but Hytner also casts the film well. Peter Gallagher is the instructor and this is a vast improvement over his last couple of failures. Zoe Saldana, Amanda Shull, and Susan May Pratt are among the ensemble for whom travel the clichés but ultimately present real character. While Fame will appeal to both students and adults alike, Center Stage is clearly aimed at teenagers who have ambitions similar to those expressed here. Although not the masterpiece that Fame is it still presents an interesting character study in an energizing film about reaching goals in high places. Score: 8 / 10

Pretty Jodie Sawyer (Amanda Schull), rebellious Eva Rodriguez (Zoe Saldana) and Maureen Cummings (Susan May Pratt) are new roommates in the American Ballet Academy in NYC. Both Jodie and Eva are new to the program. Maureen has been there since 9 and has the best techniques. Jonathan (Peter Gallagher) runs the company and is choosing dancers for the final gala. Maureen is supposedly the top girl. Eva has the ability but her attitude clash with the teacher Juliette (Donna Murphy). Jodie seems to be the weakest but she has IT.It's a lot of pretty people dancing. The story has been told many times before. I'm sure some are even about ballet schools. This one brings the big archetypes. I don't think Amanda Schull has a big enough presence to justify being the lead with the IT factor. There is a lot of dancing that doesn't actually add to the story drama. Unless this is only for ballet lovers, those scenes should be trimmed. This doesn't have the edginess or surprises. However it follows the formula quite well.

I watched parts of this movie on the TV once and enjoyed it very much. Since then, I was looking for a copy of the movie so I can watch it end to end without missing a single scene.There isn't much of a story but all the dancing is a sheer pleasure to behold. I couldn't help smiling happily whenever perfection was up there on the screen to regard. The plot is more or less predictable. If you are even sightly into any dance form, you will enjoy this movie immensely. The cut-throat competition in the world of ballet is well depicted. The movie also highlights the fact that one should follow one's heart, even if it not what you are best at or even if you have spent most of your life until now doing something that you are only doing because things happened that way or someone wanted you to. Some characters in the movie stop pursuing ballet in the movie since it is no longer a source of fun for them, but only a source of stress.A light watch that ends on a happy note. I give it a 9/10.

i quite enjoyed this movie.it follows a group of people as they try to make it as as dancers with a prestigious ballet company.as soon as i saw it was about ballet,i groaned inwardly.i thought there's no way this could be anything other than boring.but i was proved wrong very quickly.this movie is not just about ballet.there's more going on.lets just say this is a very high energy movie,with some great dance sequences.if you don't like ballet,i feel very confident in saying that won't matter in this case.for one thing the performances are all very good,both the dancing and the acting.and the movie is choreographed very well.not to mention the great soundtrack.for me,this is a really good 115 minutes. 8/10