I hate interracial romance movies they are all the same. It's always a black-white pairing.
As if to imply that in order for the race relations to improve we need to date white.
As a black woman I find this annoying and insulting.
So this movie is implying that whites are more open-minded about interracial dating get outta town!

Most people date and possibly marry exclusive within their ethnic background. Interracial dating is an anomaly! Most couples want their offspring to look like them.

I admit I find men of all races of attractive not just white men or in the case of black men they can appreciate the beauty of women of all races doesn't mean they're gonna tie the knot outside their ethnic background.

Definitely one of my favorite movies. It makes you want to get up and dance during the movie. If you love a good love story, this is a winner for you.

You've got great ingredients for this movie. Julia Styles is wonderful. Sean Patrick Thomas is fantastic. The directing and choreography were first-rate. In lesser hands, the writer could have made a hash out of the well-worn themes in this movie, but instead he worked all these themes together into a coherent whole:

* The "teenage coming of age" movie, like All the Right Moves.

* The "star-crossed young lovers" movie, like Romeo and Juliet.

* The "forbidden interracial love" movie, like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

* The "guilt over the death of someone close to me will only temporarily stop me from performing" movie, like Stomp the Yard (I know: Stomp the Yard is a later film).

* The "overcome adversity to get into a top-notch dance school" movie, like Flashdance.

* The "go to new school with everyone of a different ethnicity than you" movie, like Finding Forrester (yet another great Sean Patrick Thomas movie).

* The "are you going to follow your gang or not" movie, like Boyz N the Hood.

* And, of course, the "broken family trying to heal" movie, like every Disney movie ever made except Peter Pan.

I purchased Save The Last Dance and was disappointed only in some of the scenes that viewed in the movie. Overall it was a great movie. My only beef, is why did they put Julia Stiles in the role to play opposite someone like Sean Patrick Thomas? Julia did really well in the dance scenes, but in the part she played as Sara Johnson, I personally think they should have picked another actress. Why you ask? Simply because to me, Julia did not come across the screen to me as someone who truly was in love with Derek. You know the part she played as Sara. It just didn't seem real to me. The emotion was not there, it's like she was being forced to play at being in love with someone. Teens have strong emotions in those years and her part just didn't seem believeable. Other than that the movie was good and I enjoyed it. I didn't particularly care for Malachi, but the actor playing the part, played it well because you weren't supposed to like Malachi. I am not down on Julia Stiles, I have seen some of her other movies and she always nailed the part like it was supposed to be, but I'm sorry that I can't say the same for this movie. I do want to buy the sequel and soon I will. If you like hiphop and dance scenes this is your movie, as for the love scenes Sara (Julia) didn't make the cut in my point of view. Also, new actress, Kerry Washington did a great job at playing Chenille. I think she has or should have a great future ahead of her.

This movie is about two different worlds coming together. The main chacater Sara who has moved from a settled town. Now living with her father in the hood.In the end finds the love of her life named Derrick. By Derrick hanging with wrong coward he has to make a choice. In the end love and their passsion to suceed brought them back together. Now thbeir dreams are a reality

I actually have liked Julia Stiles in other movies and she tries hard here. Though I've nothing against her, couldn't they get a dancer to play the lead? She's so clearly doubled that it's distracting. Thomas is winning as a youthful Sidney Portier lookalike. They have a nice chemistry, if they had a chance to do more together than this lame, cliche ridden script. If I were black, though, I'd find this movie offensive as it portrays the majority of black characters as hopelessly tied to failure, except for the one shining light who works his way out of the ghetto and of course, merits a white girl. The ending is embarassingly "flashdance". The only thing that saved the movie from one star was that I was afraid it would be even more predictable, that the shining light, with his dream in reach, would get snuffed out in gang violence all in the name of noble friendship, while the girl, inspired by his bootstrappiness, goes on to get her dream. But thankfully, this is a "feel good" movie, so that's the one cliche we didn't get treated to. Truthfully, I found it a "feel dumb" movie -- I felt dumb for wasting my time watching it. OTOH, aside from being a offensively cliche ridden, stereotypical to the point of prejudice riddled chestnut, with snoringly predictable characters and plots, it is reasonably competent as a sort of Flashdance remake. 2 1/2 stars

Dancing has become a cinematic phenomenon as of late, with films like `Stomp the Yard' and `You Got Served' being churned out of the movie machines like bunnies from the womb, but sadly just about every one of these so called dance films lacks in every department but the dance moves. Sure these young actors (if you can call them that) can cut a rug but the storylines and overall acting in these productions are downright awful. Rewind back a few years though and you'll find that not every dancing film is entirely lacking. In 2001 MTV put out a film called `Save the Last Dance', a film that did quite well and still to this day holds up against the onslaught of inferior copycat films. What these films lack `Save the Last Dance' embraces. Sure it has its share of hang ups and set backs for I'm not saying it's perfect but it tries much harder than the films of late and it provides a decent and well rounded script with characters we can care about.

The film follows ballet dancer Sara Johnson as her life is upended by the sudden death of her mother. To make matters worse Sara blames herself for her mother's death (she died racing to watch her daughter audition for Juilliard) and swears never to embrace ballet again. She is forced to move in with her father following the death and this changes her life drastically. Her father is a bit less well off then her mother was and Sara lacks much respect for him. She also must change schools, and being the proper white girl that she is she finds it very difficult to adjust to a predominantly all black school. That is until she meets Chenille and her brother Derek. Chenille welcomes Sara into her circle and shows her the ropes, making her feel comfortable instead of out of place and Derek eventually makes his way into her heart and helps her find her love of dance once again.

The film, while focusing on the dancing, spends equal time fleshing out the characters on the screen. The cast is an impressive list of young stars, and I think this is another reason this film is far superior to the dance movies of late. Instead of casting rising musical talents like Chris Brown as the lead this film has a solid cast of young actors who know how to act. Sean Patrick Thomas is great as Derek. He embodies his character extremely well, balancing the misplaced loyalty to his childhood friend Malakai with his determination to make his life better than would be expected. I also really liked Bianca Lawson's performance as Derek's ex-girlfriend Nikki. She had that perfect mixture of kattyness and sexuality.

And what ever happened to Julia Stiles? This movie should have made her a star. I mean sure, I understand that Jessica Alba is physical perfection but the sheer fact that she gets more work than Stiles is a sin against humanity. As Sara Julia brilliantly delivers emotion after emotion and elevates the film. I really want to see more of this girl. But when speaking of the cast there is one name and one name only that resonates forever with me. Kerry Washington. As Chenille she is effortlessly entertaining and completely memorable, best in show. Washington is on the top of my list of my favorite young actors who I crave to see more of. She has so much talent, so much potential.

The film is not without its low points. It is a tad bit predictable, well not a tad, and it does fall into the same clichéd stereotypes that most films of this nature come into. Prejudice is addressed, but I actually felt the way it was broached here was a bit refreshing. It expressed a real concern for the African American community, at least in those city areas, and I felt it was dealt with nicely. It broaches many concerns of people in those types of communities, whether it be gang violence or single parent families. This has all been done before. Regardless it never takes away from the entertainment value of the film. I still love this film to this day and watch it regularly. Sure, it's no Oscar winner but it should have served as a foundation for the dancing films that followed. Sadly it wasn't.

I've put off seeing this movie because Julia Stiles does nothing for me-and she still doesn't, but the distraction from supporting cast balances her out. Plot wise: anyone who's old enough to remember Flashdance will experience a sense of deja vu. The character's are just younger. There's no real obstacles to overcome-everyone just need to learn to get out of their own way. Which is usually the case in real life as well. This is not a bad movie. It will entertain you if you have nothing better to do at two in the morning.

first--despite The New Yorkers vulgar description of Miss Stiles as "The reigning teen queen" I find her an intelligent actress willing to take on challenging roles. Second I hope folks have noticed that many of the "teen" remakes of classics--I'm thinking of Shakespeare and Jane Austen --have been quite well done, and often much better than laborious efforts to film the original.

This film "pace" the younger sets comments seems to me a thoughtful piece of work. The director is taking on a rather delicate problem--and I don't mean interacial romance. What troubles me in this film is the relationship between the sexes. I want to be careful here because I do not mean to be preaching some "sexist" agenda--however I am troubled by the treatment of black men in this film who because of what I regard as a feminization of the west that began some thirty five years ago--largely for economic reasons men--especially black men (though in this film ironically most particularly a white man) are become economically marginalized. Another of Miss Stile films--a remake of Taming of the Shrew makes passing reference to this. Good for her!

OK--the dancing was great and the film is well worth watching--I paid attention and thought it worth sounding pompous and longwinded to say whay I felt about it.

J'ai regardé ceci avec ma fille et c'est un remonte très le film. Il a multi l'appel intergénérationnelle. (I watched this with my daughter and it is a very uplifting movie. It has multi generational appeal.)

I definitely tired when the people do this kind of stuff. And think they can get the cheese before the mice, that bother me a lot, I so hard, but since I'm not making a copy-cat of another comercial of a quality product, like those crazy bees, Gosh I hate those utterly insane bees but I absoultley concur about the made statement a week before about the problems of you can have if you think milk is the solution to the problem, I know Albama is a great place but I think it will get more overrated with that poor scale made by sea people.

Save tha Last denace was an Awsome movie... I agree Julia Stiles did a great jo abd played it well... I thought that this movie was very inspiring basically 2 different ppl in 2 different worlds findin luv in eachother... IT was a Truely an AWSOME movie....

Great dancing & music. I thoroughly enjoyed it. All the actors and actresses did a great job. They worked well together and probably had a great time; it comes through on film. It's probably a chick flick, I'm a chick, I thought it was slammin'!

Now for kids review I got to say your so wrong. This movie rocks just tell that to all the people who loved and am sure still love it. YOu really must not go out at all. This movie is a hit on my list. So to hell with you Kids review.

I gonna start saying that Julia Stiles is the worthless actreses since Tara Reid(she must feel insulted right now, I'm sure) Hollywood please STOP hiring her, I never seen a good movie from her, all her movies are horrible that makes me sick JULIA STILES IS THE WORST ACTRESS OF ALL TIME NUFF SAID, if you like GARBAGE movies you love this or you if you don't have a good taste for great movies such like American Beauty, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Final Destination 3 or Brokeback Mountain, you're going to love STLD, you really want to see a movie that touch the racial themes then see Crash or Spike Lee's Jungle Fever both are MUCH BETTER than this, than this sickness movie, Kerry Washignton shines but saddly can helped too much, what a shame.

This movie is really sweet, and it depicts the hard time interracial couples have. I loved the story so much, and give it two thumbs up!

It is a great movie. Julia Stiles is a wonderful actress, and she plays the part very well.

This is one of my favorite movies. I love the plot, the characters and just about everything about the movie. I didn't care for Derek's friends though, and was glad when he didn't join them in their antics. I loved Julia Stiles and Sean patrick Thomas together. They both came across as real. This is a definite 5 star movie.

My friend made me watch this movie, and after watching it, it became one of my favorite. The story of the movie is new and interesting. Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas are awesome. The movie is worth watching. Great dancing.

Ok, get with the times. Same race relationships are something of the past. Quite frankly there aren't a whole lot of people that care about interacial relationships anymore, and these couple certainly don't. They do run into some who do however, which puts a twist in the story. But it does take two to tango, right?

It's a great movie, with great actor\actress'. Must see. Julia's dancing is wonderful. He was there to back her up all the way, even when she didn't want him to be.

By the title it doesnt seem too convincing to watch this film but oh my god, this film was a masterpiece.Julia Stiles as one of the main character here.This film is full of comedy, dancing and romance.Its up there on my 10 faveroute movies list.It is defenitly for me the film of the year.This fantastic will get you upbeat and you will be dancing on the edge of you seat.

This is my favorite Julia Stiles movie of all time. I don't generally care much for her as an actress but she pulls it off with Sean Patrick Thomas in an inspirational life-changing movie in Save the Last Dance.

Great girl movie especially if you like dance movies. The story line is pretty good too.

ilove this movie because i'm a dancer myself and i'm always doubting myself if i'm going to make to julliard. i'm 17 and a junior so i have 2 yrs left to practice at my school broadway dance center,nyc.this movie shows her stuggles ans real life situations. coming from asmall town like w.n.y,nj . i could relate to her. when she got the courage to preform in front of those judges i was crying and imagining myself their soon.
they also had to fight to keep their love life together thats a everyday thing. this mmovies is so inspirational. i hope iget accepted to julliard

I enjoyed the music and dancing aspects of the movie and how sarah and derek had a beautiful relationship. It was sad how people tried to bring them down though because of sara being a white girl. Racism still exists and it's so sad.

Save the last dance was an amazing movie because it showed how people suffer and the emotions they have to do their best.

This was very good! It mixed romance, friendship, comedy, and dancing into an entertaining movie. The dancing was fantastic, and the acting was great, too! Julia Stiles was very good as Sara, a seventeen-year-old girl who dreams of being a ballerina, but ends up learning a lot about hip-hop, as well. This movie doesn't quite make my "favorites" list, but it comes pretty close! I really liked the fact that more than one story was going on at once, but they worked together to make one big story! I recommend this movie to teen girls, especially those who love to dance. I say "teen" girls because there is a lot of cussing and some teen content that isn't appropriate for all girls. But to those who are allowed to watch PG-13, and love teen movies, I highly recommend this!

This movie definitely goes in my top 10 list. It's excellent. A story about a white girl, Sara (Julia Stiles), who moves into a dominantly Black urban "ghetto" after her mother dies in a car accident. She makes friends with a Black girl named Chenille, and starts to fall in love with her brother Derick (Sean Patrick Thomas), who feels tha same. The couple go through a lot of problems because people don't approve of the fact that he is Black and she is White. All through tha movie, problems arise for tha couple, including dance, a love both of them share. She's a ballet dancer, he's into hiphop. The two collaborate to complete her dream of going to Juliard. The movie is full of awesome dance scenes, fights, humor, love, everything. The movie is amazing. It's tha best teen hiphop movie to come out in a long time... it's 1000 times better than stupid "Black teen" movies they're putting out now like "Love Don't Cost A Thing", and "You Got Served". Check this movie out, you won't be sorry.

First off, I feel compelled to explain my rating system. I don't hold all movies to the same standard. Rather, I rate based on whether I feel the movie has achieved its goal or not. With this in mind, Save The Last Dance has done very well in being a feel-good dance movie that caters to the young generation without at the same time alienating anybody else who doesn't necessarily fit into the MTV mold.

I think this movie succeeds at being a little of everything; it's hip, it's accessible, it's got comedy and drama, exciting dance routines, it showcases fine acting talents, and, most of all, it's never corny (cliched at times, yes, but not corny). I think the biggest success of this film was that it incorporated elements of both black and white cultures in a way that was entertaining without being disrespectful. It's highly watchable -- I watched it with my entire family and we all enjoyed it immensely.

Sean Patrick Thomas steals the show as Derek, the male lead. He makes a charismatic performance as the young man from the 'hood trying to get into medical school. His character called for someone who could believably play 1) a boy who grew up in south side and 2) someone intelligent and well-read enough to get into Georgetown to study medicine. Whether he's hanging out with his friends who aspire to become thugs or debating literature in the classroom, Sean Patrick Thomas pulls off both very believably, which is really what makes his character fly.

Julia Stiles, on the other hand, plays the firecracker Sarah who was an aspiring ballerina until the untimely death of her mother, which causes her to move in with her father who lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Julia Stiles sparkles in this movie, and it was delightful to see her and Thomas play off each other.

Each of the supporting cast was well cast, as well. The dancing, too, was hip, exciting, and well-choreographed. The dances were well-orchestrated exclamation marks to scenes. MTV doesn't over-reach in this film and that's what made it work. They knew what they wanted and they did it well.

The genius of this film is the good balances it achieves between so many aspects. It's cool without alienating non-high schoolers, it's dramatic without being sappy, and it resorts to cliches at times without being corny. That, combined with the dances and the acting, make this movie a rock-solid feel-good crowd-pleaser. It's unfair to judge a crowd-pleaser to bio-epics and Oscar-winning dramas and say the former isn't a good movie. There are different types of movies, and this is one of the better feel-good movies I've seen in a while.

Trash is the softest word for this "movie". If we can call it movie, has no plot, bad perfomance, bad music, bad direction, everything's bad, starting by Julia Stiles, trying to play to be an actress. Don't waste money and time.

A very impressive film, I must say. When I first saw it I watched it over and over again. The story line is something differen't and the acting is done well. I don't need to say much more other than how much I enjoyed this move and how well done it is. A really worth while movie to watch.

There are some fish-out-of-water elements in this film - Sara Johnson (Julia Stiles) is an aspiring ballet dancer. Her mother dies and she must move from her country town to Chicago to live with her father (Terry Kinney). She finds herself plunged into an alien environment. She's at a high school where the student population is perhaps 95% black, which doesn't trouble her, but she gets a quick introduction to the higher crime rate in a big city - metal detectors at the school entrance... A girl called Chenille (Kerry Washington - excellent performance) looks out for her. The real problem comes when she accompanies her new friends to the local dance club - she discovers that she had no idea of how to dance like they do. Derek Reynolds (Sean Patrick Thomas) takes pity on her, and starts teaching her. This starts some real antagonism between Sara and Nikki (Bianca Lawson); Nikki was already in her face, and now Sara's cosying up to the man she wants.
Derek's best friend Malakai (Fredro Starr) is heading in a different direction - he's just out of jail, and shows every sign of heading back again. Derek wants to become a doctor, and his marks are good enough. Malakai doesn't like the idea of Derek getting close to Sara - it is never completely clear whether this is because of her colour, or because she is encouraging him away from gang-related stuff.
Hmm, maybe the director's right about the interracial romance - a lot of the tensions relate to it. Or maybe it's just about race - Sara gets some strange looks simply from being white in a predominantly black neighbourhood.
Sara is not the archetypal wimp - she is perfectly happy to stick up for herself. That's good.
This is not a typical teen movie. It's rather better. I recommend it.

This is my favorite movie.


Save The Last Dance<333333

Very emotional movie - strongly shows a passion for dance. It contains some terrific dance scenes. One of my favorites.

Despite not being a trained dancer (unless you count dancing in the shower, or dancing to some rather dodgy music from my past, or the fact I did used to go to dance classes, but gave up for the afternoon kids TV!), I love watching these kind of movies. Plus, Julia Stiles is definitely on my list of favourite actresses.

The movie has a lot of influences, and is the dance scenes, albeit updated, are heavily influenced by Grease in particular. The dance scenes aren't the main part of the movie, there's racial issues being heavily focused on, and teenage pregnancy. Sean Patrick Thomas does well in his role of Julia Stiles' boyfriend in the movie, but often, he comes across as being more of the tough guy, rather than the love interest.

There aren't many boring scenes in this movie, and it's pretty much fast paced, with anything that could be seen as too tedious, condensed quite neatly.

The music is pretty cool, although I wouldn't recommend buying the soundtrack unless you're totally into your 'slammin'' hip-hop music. Not really my kind of style really. The track by Ice Cube "You Can Do It" is about to be released in the UK, despite being around the dance floors and in the clubs for many years now - although it's being censored on UK TV!!! Other memorable songs are "Crazy" by K-Ci and JoJo and "You make me Sick" by Pink.

The extras are nothing special: commentary by director Thomas Carter; music video "Crazy" by K-Chi & Jo-Jo; interviews and making-of. For any music lover, or just someone in need of a pick-me-up, this is the film to get on DVD.