Parents' Guide to Heartbeats

Things pep up whenever a dance number starts in this so-so cross-cultural romance meets musical, but they spiral downward anytime the actors have to talk to each other. Dance movies, which require actors who can handle both dialogue and complicated choreography, are tough to cast -- and although some of the supporting cast members have both charm and dance game, star Ellsworth is absolutely wooden off the dance floor. The clichéd storyline doesn't help: A young woman wants to follow her dreams of dancing professionally, while her parents want her to go to college and prepare for a more secure career. (We're clearly supposed to root for the dreamer, but knowing what we know about careers in the arts, it might be easier for many adults to side with the parents who are trying to set their daughter up for a more stable life.)

On the plus side, Heartbeats' India-filmed visuals are gorgeous. Viewers might be tempted to turn their sound down -- all the better to avoid hackneyed dialogue -- and focus instead on beautiful images of open-air markets, swirling saris, flocks of birds circling over a shoreline, and the color and glamour of an upscale Indian wedding. You'll see a sangeet (the traditional song-and-dance prelude to many weddings in India), watch street food being prepared, and glide through chaotic Mumbai streets in lyrically beautiful scenes. If you're watching at home, feel free to fast-forward past the scenes when actors are talking to each other -- there are no surprises; you know exactly where each storyline is going and you won't miss anything -- and focus on the dance and Mumbai scenery. That's where the real pleasures of this movie lie.