Dance-off (2014)

(In French, On Cable TV, September 2022) There’s a reason why movie musicals died out as a dominant movie genre after the 1950s and the end of the studio system—as much fun as they can be to watch, it’s a form of filmmaking that demands a lot of specialized resources. Whether it’s generous budgets, capable filmmakers or performers trained in multiple disciplines, musicals stress-test everyone involved in a production. The results can be glorious, but it’s not the kind of thing that can be done on a shoestring budget… as Dance-off sadly proves. Much (most) of this low-budget production is terrible even by made-for-TV film standards: the script alone is an atrocious mix of failed comic relief, clichés and situations so contrived that it seems aimed at preschoolers. This is certainly not helped along with actors that span the range from earnest to flat-out terrible, overacting the comedy and underplaying the drama. The dramatic scene staging is as amateurish as the set design, showing the depth to which filmmaking can sink if it doesn’t have a solid crew to support its creative side. There is, however, one constant exception to all of this, and it’s the one that keeps the film from the worst possible assessment: The dance sequences are acceptable. Not good—we’re still far away from even the Step-Up series here—but acceptable, and that’s a significant improvement over the rest of the film. Director Alex Di Marco clearly knows how to spend his low budget for maximum impact, and so the dance sequences here are not terrible. It helps that of all the actors, the two leads are the best—Kathryn McCormick is very cute as in the female lead role, and that helps a bit throughout the entire film. So, to sum up: Dance Dance-off: tolerable; Off-dance Dance-Off: terrible. Call it a demonstration of why movie musicals need at least a medium budget to succeed.