Dance With Me (1998): Dir: Randa Haines / Cast: Vanessa Williams, Chayanne, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Plowright, Jane Krakowski: Misfire film about engagement of personalities. It is an inner request by the film's heroine in her need for companionship. Chayanne is from Cuba and he travels to Texas to accept a job at a dance club and meet his father. Kris Kristofferson fills that role and helps him get settled in. He meets a fascinating dancer but the father of her daughter is a successful dancer too. Directed by Randa Haines who previously made Children of a Lesser God and again creates relationships through expression and talent. Vanessa Williams is an engaging actress despite the predictable storytelling. She is a festive dancer and pulls of all the stops with her dance partner. Chayanne delivers the best performance as someone seeking opportunity and discovers romance and a reuniting with his father. However, it isn't difficult to predict where this is all heading. Kristofferson as Chayanne's father is standard, and Joan Plowright is subdued with a useless cardboard role. Jane Krakowski plays one of the one dimensional dancers. The dancing is graceful and certainly presents a positive distraction from the flimsy writing. With that said, the film's theme seems to work as an expression through artistic talent. It is about the love of dancing not the nature of it. Score: 5 / 10

I couldn't believe how happy this film made me. First of all, its not just a dance film. It has several sub-plots that deal with issues of abandonment and rejection by a parent, abuse between two dance partners who used to be married, wanting to find a real family, and defining what family really means. It has Kris Kristofferson who can do no wrong in my book, and beautiful people who feel the joy of living through dancing. When I say "beautiful people", I mean folks of all ages and sizes who love life and the dance.The central love story between Ruby and Rafael is very believable. Vanessa Williams (Ruby) is a goddess on the dance floor and off and Chayanne plays Rafael- a good dancer but not quite up to her caliber. The dance contest scenes are world-class. I won't spoil the ending for you, but the film really does draw out the suspense so you are not sure what will happen, but you hope that love will prevail in the end.When I came to see the reviews on this site, I expected to see a rating of at least 7. I think that if more people saw the film and reviewed it, the score would be much higher than 5.6. If you love professional dance, beautiful people of all ages, and a great love story, see this movie.

The mistake with this movie is that it doesn't have some hit tune to promote it.A hit tune has made hits out of very mediocre movies.Even though both leads can sing neither of them does in this movie and i believe thats why no one has ever heard of it. Other than that its a very nice movie,with a likable plot,solid acting and dazzling dancing.This could have easily been a huge hit if only it had some catchy tune.There's plenty of Latin music in it but not any original hit.The male lead is handsome,likable and gives a solid acting performance,his dancing is OK but less impressive.There's good support from star Kristofferson and some decent character actors. I was astounded by miss William's dancing in this movie.She is incredible.Just the kind of performance one would expect from movies like Chicago but there were none there,there is plenty here,but the other movie wins an Oscar and this one is unknown.Go figure.Don't be fooled by the low rating of this movie.I have no idea who are the people who vote,if you like Latin music and dancing this is a must.

Dance With Me is that fun kind of film you can get the old tape out and revisit every once in a while, and it remains fresh even after multiple viewings. The characters are likable, the cast clicks well together, the music is a terrific assortment of different styles, and plenty of well-choreographed dance routines are featured. All of these blend well to make for a feel-good movie.Although the focus of the movie is simply to celebrate the joy of dance itself, three parallel plots are introduced that give the story cohesiveness, as well as somewhere to go. A young Cuban man (Chayanne) travels to Texas to meet the father he has never known (Kris Kristofferson), who runs a dance studio, and romances one of the teachers who works at the studio (Vanessa Williams), while everyone at the studio prepares for a dance competition in Vegas.These three elements are mixed well, thanks to a fine ensemble cast. Chayanne has a boyish, friendly charm that is immediately disarming. Williams and Kristofferson, two actors I've never been particularly fond of, turn in great performances and won me over as a new fan. They have splendid screen chemistry with Chayanne, and the multiple plots are developed well because of this. The supporting cast have their share of great moments too, and provide plenty of comic relief.The wide variety of music and dance styles throughout the movie are utilized well. Look for excellent choreography, particularly in the nightclub sequence where Williams gets spun, turned, and whirled by about a hundred other dancers. The dance competition finale is staged brilliantly, showing everything from ballet to sizzling salsa in an exhilarating fashion.Overall, an enjoyable movie, in the spirit of the old MGM musicals, where the only thing that's important is to have some pleasant, escapist fun.