Mad Hot Ballroom DVD Review (Marilyn Agrelo) Empire Movies

MAD HOT BALLROOM DVD REVIEW

Mad Hot Ballroom
(Paramount Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

4/10

n/a

Liam

There are differing opinions on kids and competition. On the one hand, you have people who are on the pro side, feeling that competition helps kids build character and learn the value of good sportsmanship. On the con side, there are those that think that kids should just participate in things for "fun". Why do there have to be winners and losers, after all. Personally, I'm on the pro side. Sure competition has its share of problems but, in my opinion, 99% of the problem with kids and competition is adults...

There have been a few movies in the last several years about kids and competition. The first couple that come to mind are Spellbound and Mad Hot Ballroom. Usually, when I think of kids competing, I think about your traditional sports like baseball, football, hockey and basketball. To be completely honest, spelling bees and ballroom dancing probably wouldn't even come to mind if you were to put me in the hot seat. But, I guess that's part of the appeal of these movies. You don't have to be a star athlete to compete in these events. All it takes is heart and the willingness to learn to be the best. And it's fun - at least until the adults get involved.

In Mad Hot Ballroom, we follow a few different schools from around New York City as they prepare for a ballroom dancing competition. They do the tango, the merengue, the rumba and a few other dances that kids this age shouldn't be doing. But, they're building character, making friends and having a little fun. We get to hear the kids talk candidly about dancing, about boys and girls, about their parents, their dreams, their aspirations. Basically, kid stuff. Then, there are the few adults that ruin everything. First and foremost to come to mind is the teacher whose class eventually wins the competition. Sure, maybe the kids deserve the win, but early in the movie, we hear this teacher go on about how she lost last year, and all she wants to do is WIN, WIN, WIN and to get the giant trophy to flaunt in front of everybody!! Well, you can take your trophy and shove it, lady! She ruined the whole movie for me. I wanted her to lose just so I could laugh at her. And the fact that her class won only made me that much more angry. And the way she acted, jumping around, yelling and screaming, humping a post like a rabid dog. You suck. Way to teach your students about being a gracious winner. You turn my stomach.

Then, on the flip side, you have the students who lost in the opening round. They cry, which is natural, and they complain about the judges, which is also natural, but I felt a great opportunity was lost here to show how these kids could learn from their loss, and be good losers, and to take something positive from their loss. Instead, I just saw a bunch of poor losers who I at first cared about but then couldn't be bothered with.

No special features were included on this DVD aside from a few previews for other Paramount Home Entertainment titles.

In the final analysis, I felt Mad Hot Ballroom started out good enough. The premise was decent and the kids were fun to watch. But in the end, it just missed too many opportunities to showcase how competition can serve as the foundation of learning the values of winning with class and graciously accepting defeat. Sure, some of the participants in this movie might have learned a thing or two, but this movie didn't show it. And that is its biggest failure.

Features
n/a

Video
Widescreen Version

Audio
Dolby Digital English 2.0 Surround

Subtitles
English, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
October 18, 2005

Rating
PG/G

Length
105 mins.

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