YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

charlessmith702210 The whole story of Rafael Infante's dancing dream starts in the still conformist country of Cuba, in the town of Santiago. He is waiting for his visa to leave Cuba and enter the United States from a letter from John Burnett, who runs a ballroom dance studio in Texas. After the conformation of the visa, news of Rafael's acceptance spreads across his friends and with some magic, the salsa song "Good-bye Santiago" wails across a salsa party as the friends say good-bye to Rafael, wondering if Rafael will ever return to his homeland. As Rafael goes to the USA, he is met up by a professional ballroom dancer, Ruby Sinclair at an intercity bus station, and then, finally takes him to the ballroom studio to meet John Burnett. Later on, as Rafael is introduced to his new home, Ruby and one of his dance partners practice a cha-cha routine, and Rafael is astounded by their cha-cha dancing. Rafael then realizes Vanessa's cha-cha solo dance practice and that her cha-cha does not resemble the traditional cha-cha done in Cuba.Rafael, later on, releases his new talent as a mechanic, spotting John Burnett's old truck that never has been driven for a while, and his strong interest in fishing, which he explains to John. John returns his favor, saying that he loves fishing as a hobby. Later on, Rafael eventually does overhaul repairs on his truck and made it like new, shocking John.Ruby, at the same time, at the ballroom studio, is waiting on his old dance partner, Julian Marshall, as the Open Professional Dance Championships in Las Vegas is days away and some studio participants practice for this big dance competition. I can spot Rafael's crush on Ruby at a studio dance party where he grabs her into a rolling-in turn during a social swing dance and zips up a loose zipper on her dress in the middle of her dance. With that, this leads to their first date at a dance club at Titon's and I liked Johnny Palanco's "La Receta" as they tried to do their first dance. All went well before Rafael accepts an invitation from a Cuban female stranger to dance, and their date spirals down to an insulting end. Ruby almost does not accept Rafael's apology for the botched date, but as the story goes on, their second date at Titon's involving a mambo round is much better, enhancing Rafael's and Ruby's relationship. Rafael meets with Patricia, partnering up with John for the theatrical arts category, and spotting an opportunity, lifts Patricia in the air. John then complains that his back is giving away too much and Patricia finding out that Rafael took ballet. So with that, Rafael and Patricia will compete in Las Vegas while John watches. Ruby now realizes that Rafael has a partner, and Ruby realizes that because she is now with her son Peter, he and Julian have to win the dancesport event so they can have a great professional ballroom dance career. In the fishing scene, Rafael almost discounts Rafael's American ties as a Cuban citizen and almost rejects him completely, but not until the height of the Las Vegas championships does he forgive Rafael and says out loud to him that you are actually an American citizen, not a Cuban citizen that he thought he was....After making it to the final round after doing a great semi-final samba heat, the final Latin dances in Julian and Ruby's championship face-off with 5 other couples (samba, cha-cha, rumba, and paso doble) has several domestic disputes but they go well. Their last dance, the rumba, is interrupted by Ruby's daydreaming of Rafael, which almost ruin their chance of winning 1st place, but all of this resolves, and when the dancing was over, they still got 1st place. The win was like magic...thanks to Rafael!!The showcase salsa dance between Rafael and Ruby at a post-championship dance party was amazing. Amazing moves, and finally, looks like Ruby had incarnation with Rafael even though Julian and Ruby will have their success later on. So that's what the movie is basically about.

mathmaniac I recall seeing 'Saturday Night Fever' (talk about your clichéd movie plots!) and leaving the theater with nothing but the dancing of John Travolta on my mind. That movie was a huge hit, the music was terrific, and to my mind, it made John Travolta a star.This movie gives me the same feeling. Why was it not a similar hit?I've watched it scores of times. Chayanne and Vanessa Williams have credible chemistry on-screen and the plot, although kind of standard, is interesting enough to carry the action.In particular, I always come back to this movie to watch the dancing. It is simply spectacular. The scene where Chayanne and Vanessa Williams' characters reach a kind of truce because they love to dance and like each other - so they go on a second date - is simply amazing. They arrive at the nightclub where they had a failed first date and the crowd parts to let them in to a kind of Latin musical dance fest where the music doesn't seem to stop long enough for anyone to sit down and catch a breath. They are immediately caught up in the swirl and almost as soon, they part and go off in different directions, passing each other, picking up different partners and having a wonderful time to the fantastic music. The scene is not about them, it's about the crowd and the sheer joy of dancing to Latin music - which in this case is not sultry and sensuous one-to-one dancing but an all-out bacchanalia of multiple partners and a pounding beat. Wonderful, wonderful!Everything about this film feels so natural and relaxed. It's like a breath of fresh air. It's not fair to compare it to 'Strictly Ballroom' directed by Baz Luhrmann. I love his movies but I appreciate them for being grand operatic extravaganzas. 'Strictly Ballroom' was certainly that. 'Dance with Me' will always be one of my favorite movies and now I've got a crush on Chayanne that just won't quit.

ilovelondon-1 It's a cookie cutter MMM goodies kind of movie. Warms your heart. Set in southern tip of Texas not too far off the water front. Mixed cast of local Texans and Cubans. Father (American who runs a dance studio),son (mixed blood, Cuban born), encounters for the first time since birth. Love in modern times along the happy rhythm of Cuban salsa music. Torrid energy of dance routines. Good and light mix of human conflicts and dance routines prep works for competition in Vegas which is used as prop for endearing climax where all problems seem to get resolved. Interesting situations that you can relate to with sprinkling hints of relationship stresses between participants here and there. Starts off slow but soon find in the fun side of dancing and music. RElax and Enjoy your life with good ballroom dance.

juanclar I feel sorry for those who are not of Latin Decent and comment about this film. If you are not a romantic, have no passion, no deep feelings, sentiment, soul, compassion, then without question, you can not recognize the greatness of this film. It set a standard for all similar movies, in Japan, Shall we dance, another in Korea, in the US, Shall we dance with Richard Gere and Jlow, and many other school competitive dance movies. Please do not think of or discuss, Ginger Rogers or Fred Astere, that was a totally different era.If you were from Cuba and you reached out with your heart, soul and mind, to recall those special places, you too would feel the loneliness for what you left behind. Have you ever heard, "Oh my, it's good to be home!" Venessa and Chayanne were electrifying! When they danced, the music, and their quiet passion, the heat in there looks and touch seemed unbelievably real! As for all the other dancers, they made a celebration of it and all had fun.The music makes you want to dance in your seat. The last dance scene should have deeply touched all. Although dancing with some one, in her being Vanessa was dancing with Chayanne. Freedom to be creative was an understatement, it shined through. What a pleasant surprise and joy to see Joan Plowright and Chayanne do their dance scene, terrific touch to the movie.I applaud the entire staff, crew, actors and Director for giving me the pleasure of this movie! I consider it a classic, a favorite, and trend setter! Back then you did not know the impact of your work today. To all of you, thank you! Sincerely, Juan Ramon Clar