Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
A Midwestern teen (Amanda Schull) realizes her dream of
being admitted into a prestigious New York ballet school and discovers it's more
emotionally and physically trying than she imagined. Also with Ilia Kulik, Eion Bailey,
Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Debra Monk, Sascha Radetsky, Zoe Saldana and Ethan
Steifel. [1:54]
SEX/NUDITY 4 - Some sexual innuendo and several kisses. A young man and girl
kiss passionately and lie on a bed (we see his bare chest when she removes his shirt); in
the next scene we see them nude but sheet-covered in bed, obviously post-coitus. In a
dance performance a young man and girl dance on a bed; she pulls off her costume (we see
her bra and panties), he lies on top of her and they kiss. Before a dance class a woman
jumps in a man's arms and he playfully squeezes her buttocks; also, in a night club we see
some people "dirty dancing." A boy comments on how cute another boy is, and
girls ogle at boys dancing during a class. We briefly see part of a girl's underwear when
she's dancing in a club, most of a girl's bare thighs when she's lifted in the air while
dancing, and a girl wearing only a long sweater while talking to a young man wearing
boxers and a T-shirt (it's implied that they had been sleeping in the same bed
together). We see many girls in tank tops
and leotards.
VIOLENCE/GORE 1 - We see a close-up of bloody blisters on a girl's feet. A
boy falls while dancing (we later see him using crutches). Two dancers pretend to punch
and choke each other during a performance. We hear a girl vomit a couple of times.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 5 - One F-word, several anatomical references and a few slang
terms, several scatological references, several mild obscenities and several insults. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Dance companies, competition, bulimia, weight and body image
issues, teen smoking and drinking, teen sexuality, stage mothers, love triangles,
self-esteem.
MESSAGE - Don't let others decide what you are (or aren't) capable of. You
can revise your dreams if you realize they aren't what you want anymore.
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
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