Too much of everything

I wanted to but couldn't!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Awesome Movie

It is clear that most who reviewed this film know very little about the type of dancing in this movie. No this particular story or dance has not been shown in any movie in quite this way. The movie is based a lot on actual experiences the writer had which was Tom Malloy who portrayed the deaf dancing teacher. Therefore they used real competition dancers throughout the movie. Many of the professional dancers played various parts in different dance numbers and these were the best of the best. Tom Malloy got the idea concerning his character learning there were actual deaf dancers like this and most do turn off their hearing aids while they are dancing as he showed.Many scenes were taken from real life experiences or one's the author was told about like Billy Zane's bag dance which is done at some weddings. There is no major plot except the life of competition dancing for those who do West Coast Swing and the budding romance of the main two characters. Props are not allowed in this type of competition but since it was a film they took some liberties. All of the main dancers are award winning dancers. Nicola Royston is the wife of the man who did the MC part, Robert Royston. He is considered the best West Coast Swing Dancer in the world and she had done stage acting previously. So that was a treat.This was an Indie film and they struggled even getting the funds to make it and considering who was in it and behind it they did something wonderful. The film was supposed to be where the skyline showed. The fact they filmed much of it in NM isn't relevant. It wasn't a mistake. I absolutely love this film, it is unique. The director actually had a dance background even though he is known for other types of things. Billy Zane was hilarious and did a lot of ad-libs throughout the movie.Tom Malloy and Amy Smart do almost all their own dancing. He had nine years in West Coast Swing dancing and she actually did have a ballet background from 4 to 14 and after that jazz dancing but not this type. It was only at the end they added in doubles to help the look of the last dance in the competition. Malloy didn't know until they went to film and was a little miffed but it got sorted out. Therefore part of it is Tom and Amy and some the doubles. You see them sitting in the audience earlier in the movie. They are the two sitting where the man tells the woman that Tom's character is deaf. There are parts that removed cues that he was deaf because they went from a long short to close up. As for the phone, his phone may have figuratively had an amplifier in it so he could hear with his hearing aids. Being declared deaf doesn't necessarily mean that one cannot hear. Some hear certain things and not others and some are stone cold deaf. His character was not born deaf nor was all his hearing gone but enough to be declared deaf. He only stated how he knew what the kids were saying. He did not go into any other aspect of the character's hearing or any fixes he had concerning it.All in all if you know what the movie is about it did what it was designed to do. Some may know Tom Malloy from other films. He was the writer, and producer of the movie The Alphabet Killer and also had an acting part. He also actually does motivational speaking. Get a DVD and listen to the background behind this movie. Love N' Dancing is one of my favorites and I have watched it many times. If you don't like the feel good type of movie that is musical then this wouldn't be your cup of tea, but it is clever and a very entertaining film.

forget the story (this kind of plot was filmed a thousand times before), forget the dancing (those who watch the movie because of it will judge by different parameters than I do), forget the lame camera-work and generic music - this is about dialogue and acting! I am actually thinking, the whole film is a parody about how special interest movies are made. the guy is deaf, but a dancer. so far so good. his former girlfriend is trying to win him back in a hilariously overacted 40's-femme-fatale-manner, while both of them look as imbecile as it gets. amy smart is admittedly a much nicer sight, but she peaks the top of her acting abilities with her performance of a stressed teacher (the students seem nice though, albeit a bit bored, which is understandable) having kind of an inner outbreak in the classroom, screaming and nearly dancing at the same time. I nearly fell off the sofa at that point. and when she came into the club, saying "wow, I can feel the energy!", I actually did. billy zane's stammering and overacting was also annoying and entertaining at the same time; like everybody else he was obviously left totally on his own (and to the unwillingly funny script) by the director, who seemed to have put all his efforts into the dancing scenes, and left the rest of the movie to his friends and family. not a very wise decision, if you ask me. so: one star for the dancing, one for the funny moments (if not on purpose), and one for the chuzpe to call this thing a movie. three altogether, and that's more than fair.

... and I dance East Coast Swing, a simplified take on Lindy Hop, which is the real thing (West Coast borrows a few moves from East Coast/Lindy and blues dance but is actually too Hollywood in its choreography and too close to the Hustle -- FEH!), so of course the dancing fell short for me. Real swing is what you dance to Count Basie, Duke Ellington, or Benny Goodman, or even contemporary big bands. My saying so will no doubt steam the West Coast fans in the audience, but hey, dance history is what it is (look up Frankie Manning and Hellzapoppin' on Wikipedia if you want to know where it all came from). Besides, the dance scenes would have fallen short anyway, for reasons cited below. But I digress.I started off really wanting to like this movie. Honest. After all, I found the male lead appealing at first, and I'd enjoyed other dance films such as Strictly Ballroom, Center Stage, Take The Lead, and Tango Bar (I even tolerated Shall We Dance fairly well, given my usually complete disdain for Richard Gere). But no: the non-dance part of this storyline was so weak it made me cringe. OFTEN. Billy Zane was slightly less obnoxious than usual, so that was something, but not enough to offset the fact that Amy Smart seemed to be sleepwalking through the whole thing. The writing was awful. Their fight scene at home, for example, seemed sudden and oh, so contrived. So did the upset at their friends' wedding. Fake, fake, fake. You could see the consequences telegraphed a mile away. And the dance competition was even **more** Hollywood over-the-top than West Coast usually is. Mehhh. They learned ALL the wrong things from ballroom competitions.Worst of all, Amy Smart never looked like she was really getting the hang of the sense of elasticity or stretch that underlies all variations of swing -- or that she was enjoying any of it, even a little bit. If you hate dancing that much, why do a dance movie?? Don't tell me she really liked it, because you sure couldn't tell from her performance in this film. I could barely sit through it. The actual dancing by others, however, like some ballroom competitions I've seen, was expert yet mechanical. Soulless despite all the plastic smiles, sequins, and flash moves. Wasn't **anybody** really getting into it? It's like they were still showing off but all just too cool to really show they like it. Nuts!!! I've seen much more fun and energy generated by amateurs at Lindy competitions on college campuses than I saw anywhere in this film. And I kept wanting to see real Lindy Hop, so that spoiled the rest of it for me.If you want an introduction to WCS, I suppose this is as good as any; but if you were hoping for another Swing Kids (despite its inauthentic choreography) or Take The Lead, sit this one out -- it's not your kind of number, and it doesn't even have anyone like Antonio Banderas to save it. And Lindyhoppers should avoid it entirely. (It'll just annoy you too much. Better your should watch Frankie Manning clips on YouTube or video reruns from the Frankie 95 celebration. I'm just saying.)PS -- I just noticed that Tom Molloy, the lead, also wrote the script. He has a lot to answer for, in that case.

Okay, so the acting is not that great and the plot is as predictable as the sun coming up every morning, but if you really want to see some superb swing dancing (though not by the main characters) then this movie is worth your time. Zane and Smart play 2 people soon to be married, but he's an Uber workaholic who does not appreciate (or even truly love?) his fiancée (she teaches middle school English classes), and we just want her to dump him, and toot sweet. Our hero is an ex-swing dance champion, now a dance teacher, and just happens to be deaf. Explaining how a deaf person can still dance to the beat of the music was explained nicely in this film, and for that I gave it a few more points. But what really makes this film is not the main stars or even the supporting cast and their various personas, but the professional dancers hired as contestants for competitions and showcases. The ending competition was well worth the wait, and something worth watching over again. Totally amazing. So put on your dance shoes and give this one a whirl.