Swing Into Romance

I really enjoyed Swing Into Romance. Danica looked amazing dancing with Gleb from DWTS. It's almost impossible to believe she is 48. The acting was good. My only real complaint was that I didn't think her love interest had the greatest chemistry with her.

I thought Gleb from DWTS did a really great job. He was quite believable for a 1st time actor. I can see him going places in the future. My dad says he looks a little like Errol Flynn and I kinda agree with him on that.

I'm a big DWTS's fan so I wish there was even more dancing in it than there was. =)

All in all, It was a quite enjoyable way to spend 90 mins.

I like everything about this movie except for two things: way way too much artificial leaves, garland, wreaths etc. And yes, bulbs are planted in the fall, but not flowers like they were planting. Loved the dancing scenes. Danica McKellar is a very talented actress. Also, not impressed that the parents are playing go fish? I would think they would have played a game that required some mental exercise such as Cribbage or Mahjong. Some trivia regarding Danica, early in her acting career on the Wonder Years, she gave an excellent performance when her brother is drafted to serve in Viet Nam, and then is killed in action. Sobering episode.

Danica Mckellar sure looks great and not just for her age. I have to hand it to her even though I'm not usually a huge fan of her perpetually worried expression. David Hayden Jones, even though younger than her, looked a little creaky in comparison, but that could have been his role.

The story was a little creaky as well. Former professional circuit dancer Danica returns home for a visit on her way to a great job in Seattle. She learns that her parents' general store is in trouble due to an upcoming increase in the rent. She is determined to "save" the store even though the store doesn't really look like it wants to be saved. Very sparse in the merchandise department which is carefully arranged and covered with fallish decor to disguise the lack of products on the shelves. Her parents don't seem all that desperate to keep the store open either. They were probably looking forward to retirement. But Danica cannot be stopped. She is going to enter a dance contest to win the prize money which will save the store. Single Widower David H-J ends up being her partner and love ensues. Can rejection of her great city career and embrace of small town life be far behind?

The infinity long garlands of leaves used in last week's movie have made their way over to this one. And what with being moved from farm to store to dance studio to bank to two homes to the auditorium of the contest, they are looking a little tired. I love stories with continuing characters and am looking forward to meeting them again in next week's "Fall into Autumn" offering.

6.3 stars.

I like both lead actors, but this film is primarily about an adept female dancer (McKellar) as she attempts to teach a deconditioned man to swing dance for a contest. Her family needs her to win the contest to save the family store. She used to be a professional dancer and won many competitions years ago, but had a falling out with her previous Russian dance partner, and subsequently gave up dancing. She eventually went into finance. The lead male was a decent dancer when he was a young boy, but apparently hasn't danced in decades. He is an accountant.

Whereas she was a professional, he was barely an amateur. As the two of them are practicing, it's quite obvious that he has two left feet and there is no way a man of his low caliber could win a contest at this level. He is also overweight and fairly clumsy. It's somewhat of a farce and inconceivable to imagine them winning. This would be like Bradley Cooper's character winning in 'Silver Linings Playbook'. We all know he has no chance, but Cooper was somewhat lithe, and at least they made it interesting with the side bet on the NFL game. 'Swing Into Romance' has no such excitement.

Unfortunately, where the romance lacks, the dancing doesn't make up the difference. Something is missing and I can only guess that it's a lack of chemistry. This movie fell flat and it's an outlier in that respect, because almost every GAF, UP, Hallmark movie between 6.7 and 6.9 stars is amazing. If I want to watch a movie only for dance I'll watch 'Step Up' or 'Dirty Dancing'. I'm looking for an original family movie with dance AND romance and 'Swing Into Romance' should be called 'Swing into'.

Once again, a cute Romantic Comedy with last minute twists and a happily ever after ending!

I keep coming back for more, even though the plots are similar, it's always great to end the day on a positive, feel good note.

Now back to my pet peeve, the deco seems like a sponsorship from Dollarama and Michael's. An exaggerated explosion of Fall Fouillage; yellow, orange and red maple leaves in every style, size and design. It's so opulent that it's distracting the attention from the characters, which do have interesting chemistry and personalities.

Every scene's decor, whether it be interior or exterior, is accentuated with tones of artificial fall garlands, oddly placed trees, shrubs, flower banks,,, you name it... which seems to be a copy paste of the previous scene... Save on the Deco, it's not needed and stay focused on the actors....