Take the Lead is a harmless little film with an abundance of energy, and somewhat to my surprise, I actually kind of enjoyed it. Maybe it was because I was tired during the screening or perhaps it was because Akeelah and the Bee left such a bad taste in my mouth. Or maybe it's just because the movie is what it is and doesn't really try to be anything more.

Taking a cue from the recent documentary Mad Hot Ballroom as well as Stand and Deliver, Dirty Dancing and (dear God am I actually saying this?) You Got Served, Take the Lead features Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine, a well intentioned ballroom dance instructor who takes it upon himself to lend his services to a group of troubled urban high schoolers who constantly find themselves in detention. At first, the underachievers find Dulaine's style of dancing laughable and a bit fruity, but they soon discover it's true charm and even begin fusing ballroom moves with their Hip Hop chops. Along the way, Dulaine and the students develop something of a grudging respect for one another that eventually forges a bond - word.

The plot sounds generic, and for the most part, it is. What elevates the film is the likability factor. Banderas is extremely charming, and he also proves to be a hell of a dancer. Alfre Woodard (doing a sort of Crazy Joe impersonation) is tough and spunky as a high school principle. Rob Brown (who made a charismatic debut in Gus Van Sant's Finding Forrester) is perfectly understated as a young man trying to steer clear of the gangster life even though his anger often gets the better of him. Yaya Dacosta is strong as a vulnerable high school student with an extremely unstable home life. The rest of the cast is surprisingly effective despite their one dimensional roles - each actor gets to bring a little bit of their own personality to the floor giving guys like the zany Dante Basco a chance to showboat.

Take the Lead was directed by Liz Friedlander who made a name for herself by working on music videos for the likes of R.E.M. and Blink 182. With her film debut, she keeps things relatively light (save for a couple of intense sub plots - including Yaya's aforementioned home life scenario), and even though this flick is predictable, the cast provides enough charisma and charm to overshadow it.

The inevitable climax, in which the poor urban high schoolers take on the rich kids in a big ballroom competition isn't particularly original, but I did like the fact that these kids don't turn into ballroom dancing geniuses. Friedlander does keep things in check. It's too bad she couldn't keep her editors in check. The manic cutting style really began to annoy me. I can understand the excessive cutting used in some sequences. Such editing is often used to hide the deficiencies of some of the dancers - but Banderas "can" dance and has proven it in other films (Mambo Kings and his hilarious turn in Four Rooms). I wish his dance scenes would have been cut differently. In fact, I wish they wouldn't have been cut at all. If anything, it gives the impression that he "can't" dance.

Having said that, Take the Lead is solid entertainment. It isn't exactly classic cinema, but I'll take it over garbage like Shall We Dance any day of the Week.