AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

moonspinner55 Cartoony variation on "Fame" concerns a group of teenagers enrolled at the American Ballet Company who rebel against their instructors, struggle with their weight, battle with their parents and--most especially--check each other out during morning ballet exercises! While cobbling together scenes from "Flashdance", "All That Jazz", "A Chorus Line" along with "Fame" (its prime inspiration), director Nicholas Hytner and screenwriter Carol Heikkinen appear to assume that a few jazzy dance montages set to an artificial backbeat will substitute for the lack of honest characters--or any kind of characters, for that matter. Despite stray vulgarities and a bit of underage sex, "Center Stage" is squeaky-clean and square, the kind of matinée underachiever which attempts to combine Michael Jackson moves with tutus. As timid over its sexuality as it is about dramatic backstage business, the movie is nothing more than a smelly soaper scored for gullible 'tweens. * from ****

Python Hyena 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

Gideon24 Center Stage was a 2000 comedy-drama that followed the lives of various teenagers as they audition for a spot in the American Ballet Company. The film opens as students audition for the company but we learn that they have only been chosen to study at the company and are not actually members of the company yet. There is a showcase at the end of the year at which time, only a handful of students are chosen as actual members of the company.The primary characters focused on are Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), a young girl who has the passion for dance but doesn't really have the technique. Eva (Zoe Saldana) has the technique but doesn't have the attitude. Maureen (Susan May Pratt) was pretty much pushed into ballet by her mother (Debra Monk) who works for the company and though she has what it takes in terms of technique, learns that her heart isn't really in it. We are also are introduced to Jonathan (Peter Gallagher) the egomaniacal director of the company who constantly butts head with Cooper Nielsen (Ethan Stiefel), the principal male dancer of the company who longs to have his own company and finds himself attracted to Jody. Tony winner Donna Murphy is also featured as a teacher in the company whose battle of wills with Eva keep their working relationship very tense.Yeah, it's pretty much a soap opera on pointe shoes, but the characters presented are pretty realistic for the most part, as dancers, for the most part, are not the nicest people in the world and that film makes this very clear. Jonathan and Cooper pretty much grate on the nerves throughout, only made worse because Ethan Stiefel, though a brilliant dancer, can't act his way out of paper bag.On the other hand, Schull is charming as Jody and Saldana steals every scene she is in. There is also a cute cameo by original A CHORUS LINE cast member Priscilla Lopez as a dance instructor who is an old friend of Cooper's. There is some first-rate dancing though and Cooper's final ballet, featuring Schull and Stiefel, is spectacular.

seh-7 The first time I saw this film, it was at the behest of friends - "this is the greatest film ever!" Bit of an exaggeration. I offended this friend by saying about halfway through "er... this is just Fame, redone for dance school." And it is - it's the plot of Fame, with the American Ballet Academy substituted for Juilliard, and dance scenes substituted for songs.But you know the weird thing? I hated Fame, but I love Centre Stage. Can't explain why! The dancing is brilliant, the plot is transparent but let yourself be swept up the dancing and that becomes a bit irrelevant. Then it's just a fun film with some amazing choreography.