Mad Hot Ballroom * * *

This is a documentary on a 5th-grade program in New York that teaches ballroom dancing to inner city kids. This ethnically and culturally diverse group of kids study ballroom all year and at the end there is an all city competition. On the surface, this seemed to me a little like watching sheepdog trials. Curiously mezmerizing even though, you know, you're just watching kids take ballroom classes. The kids are all in this gawky 12-13 stage when the boys are generally smaller and younger looking than the girls. That creates some visual humor. Also the kids are just starting to not think 'ICK' when they think of the opposite sex. There is a funny sense that all the kids are worrying about cooties. One especially funny scene is when the instructor tells the kids to look into their partner's eyes. They can't do it. Simply can't. By the end, the kids are heating up the floor doing the merenge, tango, swing and foxtrot. That is something to see. Karina (9yrs) was engaged the whole time and liked it. Jake (5yrs) watched but didn't think much of it.

Bend it Like Beckham * *

Heart-warming story about a Sikh Indian girl in London who defies her traditional parents to play soccer. Ok I think that says it all. I saw this positively reviewed in the New York Times when it came out a couple years ago, and it's been on my to see list since then. Sadly, when I actually saw it, well, it left something to be desired. It's for the pre-teen set, and it's basically like the Princess Diaries but with soccer. Haven't seen the Princess Diaries? I guess you don't have a pre-teen daughter. Anyhow, if you're an adult, you're not missing anything.

So basically, Bend it like Beckham, is not really for adults. You already know the plot from the first sentence I wrote. Yes, it's that predictable. You've seen this plot many times before. Now to be fair, I knew ahead of time that the plot was predictable and I was fine with that, but given the reviews, I thought it'd either be a really inspirational soccer story, like "Breaking Away" with a soccer ball, or like a funny soccer version of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Nope. It's strictly a pre-teen girl movie, but a fairly positive one in that the stars are girls that are into soccer. Oh if you're thinking, well at least I'll see some great soccer...sure there's lots of soccer, but it's very obviously heavily editted so that we see the heads of the actresses and the feet of the stunt doubles.

In summary, this movie is a positive movie for pre-teen girls with a fair bit of soccer, but no XY age 5 to 20 would be caught dead watching this I imagine.