I loved "Stepping Out." If you chose not to, you're more than entitled (as people who hate so much around these websites are wont to say), but for God's sakes, get the facts right. The company of dancers in question does not "put on a show" in this movie. That's something that star Liza Minnelli's mother did in films over sixty-seven years ago. (Gosh, people's obvious prejudices against musical films is so sadly obvious here.) The company of working class, small community tappers PARTICIPATE in a benefit show already established by a haughty committee muckety-muck who makes her bias against Mavis Turner's awkward, beginning dance class painfully apparent. And there's your heartbeat of this very small, unassuming film. Shot on Canadian locations disguised to simulate upstate New York, STO is actually more in tune with the plot of A CHORUS LINE than any Mickey-Judy film. The obvious difference is that the dancers are not professional. They tap in a church hall after hours, after their regular jobs and family matters. It's their single emotional release, and the thing that makes them feel like kings. And while the film does not literally delve into the life of each dancer individually, it paints enough of an ensemble portrait to make you realize that these folks support each other, lean on each other, and love one another unconditionally, almost like a second family. I suppose the sentimental nature of that premise is too much for a lot of modern cynics to take, but there it is. Minnelli's plucky Mavis is the only real professional amongst them; she almost became a star, but didn't quite make it. Minnelli, in fact, has one lovely, CHORUS LINE-like moment in the film where she dances a solo to the title number (spotlight, mirrors, and all), then has to explain to a single eavesdropper how she briefly touched dance stardom before quietly, somewhat brokenly, retiring to Buffalo. But she truly believes in her dancers and is the perfect cheerleader and counselor to them in the end. And there is a fine, somewhat surprising epilogue which formally shows off the dance family- wonderfully represented by Ellen Greene, Andrea Martin, Bill Irwin, Julie Walters, Carol Woods, Jane Krakowski, Sheila McCarthy, and Robyn Stevan. It truly is a feel-good movie. In fact, it's a feel terrific movie.
Review of Stepping Out
