filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

rooprect I'm ripping off another reviewer's title for "Lisbon Story" (the original "good for the soul" movie), but I can't think of a better description for "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School."I won't even get into the plot except to say that it's at times surprisingly dark, surprisingly uplifting, surprisingly tense, and just overall surprising. It deals with themes of devastating loss, rediscovery, pain, anger, violence, and confusion but in a way that gets your toes tapping to the Lindy Hop. Watch the movie, and that'll make sense.If you've gotten past the supercilious title, which doubtlessly scares off anyone in the mood for Saw VIII, and you've gotten as far as the 3rd paragraph of this review which includes supercilious words like "supercilious", then I think you'll get it. This is a movie which explores the veneer of charm which we often use to cloak a deeper ugliness in our lives. But it doesn't do it sarcastically; it actually points out how an occasional ballroom dance may, occasionally, be the cure for the horrors that we experience.It's no surprise that the filmmakers managed to snare an all star cast, because this is the kind of movie that actors (who aren't solely obsessed with money) would eagerly jump into. Award winning talent like John Goodman, Marisa Tomei, Mary Steenburgen, and some of my personal favorites like Ernie Hudson (The Crow, Ghostbusters) and Donnie Wahlberg (the aforementioned Saw movies) as well as a cameo by Danny Devito really bring this story to life. And of course there's the main character played by Robert Carlyle, an actor whom I'm not familiar with but I'll forever remember his performance here.As for the dancing itself, no, it's not really a showcase of fancy footwork (for that, you should check out the awesome Aussie flick "Strictly Ballroom") although Donnie Wahlberg does some impressive moves as the hilarious cheeseball Baryshnikov wannabee who needs to button his shirt back above his navel. This is really a human story with elements of romcom, elements of tragedy, elements of suspense, and regardless of how it turns out "good for the soul."

janefranklin-16049 I love quiet little independent films and this one was more than I expected. So many well-known actors who must have seen the film as a labor of love instead of a big paycheck. I think it showed in their performances. Robert Carlyle had such a heavy sadness about him and watching him come out of his self-imposed solitude was one of the nicest things about the movie. There were so many sweet little moments and I've always liked John Goodman, his inability to correct some of the regrets he had in life would resonate with many of us. The scenes with the men together in group therapy were familiar to anyone who ever experienced the deep loss of a life partner. This movie contains both grief and joy too, which is pretty much what life contains if we are lucky enough to love someone and be loved in return.

budmassey It seems that dance-themed movies are almost by definition, if you will pardon the pun, a little offbeat. I suppose one could make pseudo-intellectual references to dance as metaphor, but, in the end, I think dance is dance and that's just fine. And so is this movie – just fine, wonderfully, delightfully fine.Writer/director Randall Miller deftly employs the frame story literary device to weave two disparate narratives into a third, unifying story line. While this literary conceit was necessary to incorporate a short film of the same name that Miller made fifteen years previous to this film, it is nonetheless cleverly handled and flawlessly executed. One actor even appears in both time-lines. As a child he plays one of the central characters in his boyhood story, and as an adult, he plays the colleague of another central character. This is done imperceptibly, and is almost in inside joke to those who are aware of the earlier film.Without giving too much away, the story lines all revolve around the eponymous Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School; how one character, recalling his youth there, struggles to return for a rendezvous he promised as a boy to make on this day, and how his struggle leads a grieving widower to make his own journey there, where he will find, well, you'll have to see for yourself what he finds, but, believe me, it's worth it.The cast is surprisingly heavy with A-list (and some solid B-list) talent. Frank Keane (Robert Carlyle: The Full Monty) is a widower going through the motions of his life as a baker, unable to get past the suicide of his wife. Carlyle excels at bringing unexpected layers to his roles, and this is no exception. His character encounters challenges and inspirations that become life changing, and Carlyle renders them perfectly.John Goodman is one of those actors who, despite being gifted, are almost, if you will pardon another pun, too large a personality in real life to be effective in most roles. Here, the circumstances surrounding his character make it work beautifully. Similarly, Danny DeVito, who has but a cameo appearance, is delicately downplayed with surprising effectiveness. One almost wonders how Miller managed to assemble this impressive cast, as if he won some Hollywood casting lottery, but the fact that he is Rhea Perlman's cousin might explain at least DeVito's willingness to do the film. Rhea's father even appears.I have always loved Mary Steenburgen, and her more or less title role as Miss Hotchkiss is no disappointment. Her characteristically cracking voice is just what the character needs to seem somewhat surreal. Oscar® winner Marisa Tomei delicately inhabits the female lead of the story, and brings closure and redemption to the bereaved widower. Camryn Manheim has a brief but powerful appearance, and even Sonia Braga was somehow convinced to join a cast inexplicably overloaded with talent. Add to that Sean Astin, Adam Arkin, Ernie Hudson, and even a deliciously counter-cast Donnie Wahlberg, and you begin to see what I mean about the surfeit of talent.All of that talent wasn't for naught. The ensemble melds beautifully, delicately supported by Mark Adler's gorgeous soundtrack and all orchestrated with preternatural grace and subtlety by auteur director/writer/producer/editor Randall Miller. Films like this go largely unnoticed, and most of its fan base comes from people who caught it as part of some tedious and pretentious film festival or other. I was fortunate to have placed the film in my Netflix queue so I could watch it sans pretense, where I could experience it personally, as it was meant to be seen.Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School is simply a delight not to be missed.

nycritic Viewed as it is, without the cynicism that comes with having seen too many movies both good and bad, MARILYN HOTCHKISS BALLROOM DANCE AND CHARM SCHOOL is an affecting picture about disaffected, bruised people whose destinies converge in this little motif of a tableau. An expanded concept from a short film of the same name that was released in 1990, this is a very romantic (i.e. "escapist") take on lost love, and the intent to rekindle it in a time and place where dreams have been lost, people have outgrown their innocence, and the only thing lingering over their heads is a small sliver of hope to return to that safe haven.The movie cuts between time zones in a style closer to the fragmented storytelling of Guillermo Arriaga's 21 GRAMS and THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA, and changes palettes according to each: blue for the fateful encounter between Robert Carlyle's and John Goodman's character, pastel for the flashback sequence where we see the title character, and a more balanced tone for the story as it eventually unfolds from Carlyle's point of view. It's a technique that works in unraveling the parallels of the characters as children, and seeing them now, as broken adults.It almost becomes a thriller in a way that is less dependent on an intentional story within a story. Carlyle's quiet baker, trying to locate Goodman's childhood sweetheart Lisa, stumbles on another situation where another shy girl, played by Marisa Tomei, is being brutalized by her half-brother, played by Donnie Wahlberg, and discovers a second chance at love. All the while, the specter of this ideal Lisa hanging over the ballroom and Marienne Hotchkiss' sensual-robotic commands, which makes her actual introduction late into the story as a bitter woman all the more heartbreaking. Camryn Manheim plays out all the anger and sadness into her brief scene where she at first pretends not to know what the hell this stranger is doing at her door, and later, alone, reveals to us her pain.An imperfect movie in the way it decides to resolve supporting conflicts and uses the voice-over narration of John Goodman to near unbelievable levels, but again, this is an escapist feature length film made with what seems to be genuine love for the material and devoid of all manipulation.