Slow Dancing In The Big City

1978 "Slow dancing is falling in love."
5.3| 1h50m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 08 November 1978 Released
Producted By: United Artists
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

An aging out of shape reporter falls for a pretty but seriously ill ballerina.

Genre

Drama, Romance

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Director

John G. Avildsen

Production Companies

United Artists

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Slow Dancing In The Big City Audience Reviews

Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!
Greenes Please don't spend money on this.
Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.
Mike I read with interest the only posted comments on this movie. The author of that comment set herself up as judge, jury, and executioner. She even suggested the movie be watched by film students so as to learn how not to make a movie. Don't you just love it? This is her OPINION. What about my opinion? I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Paul Sorvino does his usual excellent job of character acting and for Anne Ditchburn's first time out, she did a credible job. Who cares about what exactly her affliction is? The point is she continues on and fulfills her dream. Hey it's only a movie! Oh! maybe because there was not one 'F' word in the movie it didn't measure up to her standards of 'real life drama'. My suggestion, see the movie yourself, make up your own mind.
LilyDaleLady I saw this movie when it first came out (1978). It was a catastrophe -- critically and commercially -- at that time and time has not been kind to it. It's a mark of how badly it failed that it never was even released for VIDEO, let alone DVD, despite the director (John Avildson of "Rocky" fame), Paul Sorvino and someother good character actors.Sorvino plays a NYC journalist who seems roughly modeled on TV's Columbo --he's scruffy, middle-aged and babbles on and on in a way that I think is meant to be eccentric and charming, but actually comes off as purely annoying. He's an "everyman" figure who falls in love with a seriously ill ballerina. I wonder where the concept of the ballerina as the supreme symbol of femininity comes from -- real life ballet dancers are ATHELETES, not simpering fashion models andinjury and disability go hand-in-hand with their art form -- but here it is handled in the lamest and most embarrassing way imaginable.Anne Ditchburn (Sarah), a real life Canadian dancer who never acted before (or again and you can understand why) has the world's strangest medical condition -- it's something vaguely inexplicable that has to do with her...uh...groin. Or maybe more accurately her thigh muscles, I don't know. We aren't told much, but she's clearly in a lot of pain when she dances, and her dancing bizarrelyincludes a lot of splits and arabesques and stuff where she wraps her thighsaround other dancers. So it hurts. She needs some kind of operation but thenshe probably won't be able to dance -- not this thigh wrapping stuff anyways -- so she is soldering on through the pain.That's about it for the plot. She insists on dancing in the "big performance" she is scheduled for, despite the pain, and along the way falls in love (veryimprobably) with big, beefy, talkative Paul Sorvino. Now, I want to say that I generally LOVE off-beat romances with oddball characters ("Harold and Maude"is about my favorite movie of all time) and that's probably why I went to see "Slow Dancing" originally.But the concept just curls up and suffers a slow death in this badly written, badly directed and badly acted film. There is no chemistry at all between Sorvino and Ditchburn. He really does seem to old for her and the contrast between her tiny, fit body and his big paunchy one is just awkward and even grotesque. There are no actual sex scenes, but you can't help thinking in your mind what they would look like together and...it would be pretty gross.The worst of it is that Sarah's medical condition (the...uh...groin problem) can't help but have sexual connotations, although none are mentioned, because theexact part of her body affected would be directly involved in sexual intercourse. You keep thinking "hmmm...he's really a big guy, and she's a tiny little thing who can't open her legs..." and any hope that the movie will be seen as touching or moving or whatever without making you break into helpless laughter is totally lost.Surely this can't have been the effect the director or screenwriters were going for -- the movie plays as if it's meant to be a quirky but deeply moving romance. Why oh why didn't they make her injury something less awkward, like arthritic knees or a foot injury (far more common amongst dancers and very believable)? Almost any other medical problem would have worked better here.Like the video companies who had no interest in putting this film on tape, I am puzzled as to who the heck would ever want to view this. Maybe a die hard Paul Sorvino fan? I can't honestly recommend this to anybody else, unless you are a film student wanting a case study example of WHAT NOT TO DO when makinga movie....
michyh I only saw this movie once as a teenager when we had "ON" pay television (before SelectTV, and then inevitably, cable). It was the last showing and I stayed up until 2 am to watch it.Needless to say, after all these years it has stuck in my mind. I loved Paul Sorvino as the lonely, heart of gold newspaper guy and Anne Ditchburn as the vulnerable ballerina. In my minds eye I remember it as a quietly executed romantic film. This is one to watch on a rainy day curled up in a blanket with a cup of tea.After my first and only viewing I had hoped to see it again, and waited patiently, looking for a listing in the TV guide week after week.Unfortunately, after approximately 20 years I am still waiting. I sincerely wish that they would re-release this film again. Perfect for die hard romantics.
filmkr This one gets better with each new look. Certainly one of Paul Sorvino's best roles. Outstanding music score which was also outstanding on sound track LP (so why no CD?). One the very early dolby stereo sound film releases. By the way, the original 35mm theatrical trailer for this is really GREAT!

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