Parents' Guide to

Save the Last Dance

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Formulaic teen romance has cursing, underage drinking.

Movie PG-13 2001 112 minutes
Save the Last Dance Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 13+

13 and up.

Save the Last Dance is a good teen-romance movie that deals with some themes such as race issues, relationships, and peer pressure only for your older teens and parents you need to know that Save the Last Dance has some violence such as shootings, and a fight in the club scene there are some sexual references and characters used strong language plus the hip-hop soundtrack rap songs also has strong language Teen characters drink and smoke.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
age 13+
This has been my favorite movie for the past 10 years!

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (7):

Save the Last Dance is a formulaic coming-of-age/teen romance with an MTV spin (MTV co-produced the movie). While the script is below average, even by the low standards of this genre, its performers are attractive and sincere (Kerry Washington is particularly appealing), and most teens are still so new to this category of film that it may not seem clichéd to them.

This movie requires suspension of disbelief that is close to complete abandonment of any sense of reality: Characters who live in the poorest circumstances seem to have all the money they need to buy fake IDs or expensive tickets. Students who get good grades never seem to do any homework or have any books in their backpacks. A teenager with a baby never has a problem with childcare. Still, no one watches this movie to gain great insights about the human condition. It's nowhere near Grease or Flashdance in style, soundtrack, or dance, but it may appeal to teens who see it as one big music video.

Movie Details

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