A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.
With a plot that is constructed entirely out of formula situations and familiar plot elements, Center Stage feels like a rerun of Flashdance grafted onto The Cutting Edge.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Center Stage is the same old stuff, not an arabesque more.
– Lisa Schwarzbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
The dance sequences in his film make the most exciting footage.
– Susan Walker,
Toronto Star,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
If you have the remotest interest in ballet, Center Stage is impossible to pass up.
– Margaret Putnam,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Assuming that every generation needs its own dance film, Hytner revists the turf of films like Turning Point (classic ballet), Chrous Line (Broadway dancing) and Saturday Night Fever (disco) and blends together their themes and persona to little effect.