Parents' Guide to

Take the Lead

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

NYC high schoolers saved by ballroom dancing.

Movie PG-13 2006 117 minutes
Take the Lead Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

King_Oilers
King_Oilers Parent of 12-year-old
July 18, 2021
age 10+

Fantastic Family Movie - Great Conversations

Some erotic dancing and an intense scene with a gun but nothing my 9-year old couldn’t handle and he is quite sensitive. Great messages and spurred lots of conversation about gender biases, respect for women, etc.

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Great messages
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What's the Story?

In TAKE THE LEAD, New York ballroom dancing teacher Pierre (Antonio Banderas) begins teaching a group of troubled high school students. He's first stymied, then embraced by the flinty-then-warm principal (Alfre Woodard). Though his students -- assigned to detention hall for various infractions -- resist his initial efforts to "express themselves" through dance (and especially, disdain his romantic oldies music), they do come to appreciate his dedication, and the fact that he brings in one of his upscale, white, and very snobby students, Morgan (Katya Virshilas), to show the proper execution of the tango. The boys' eyes predictably pop ("It's like sex on hardwood!") and the girls appreciate Morgan's deft athleticism. Pierre and his toughest student, Rock (Rob Brown), test one another, learn to trust one another, and come up with a mutually respectful relationship by film's end.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (4):

Liz Friedlander's fiction film is well-meaning and energetic. It skews older than the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom (though both are inspired by the same NYC program), and features more acrobatic camerawork and slicker editing. This means the movie grants the kids an inevitable endpoint: an entertaining dance competition where they combine hip-hop and ballroom strategies.

Yet while Rock is "developed" in relation to several characters, most of the students never get out from under their initial stereotypes. The film alludes to the students' complex lives and "issues" but they're resolved in the fiction more simplistically than are the younger kids' dilemmas in the documentary. And the Michelle Pfeiffer plot is corny. Even the diligent, compassionate widower Pierre gets a girlfriend by the end.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the options available for the dance students. How might their dance training help them in other aspects of their lives (getting a job, looking after children and parents, continuing their educations)? How does the film set up a connection between their home-life conflicts and their work in the dance class?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: April 7, 2006
  • On DVD or streaming: August 29, 2006
  • Cast: Alfre Woodard, Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown
  • Director: Liz Friedlander
  • Inclusion Information: Black actors
  • Studio: New Line
  • Genre: Drama
  • Run time: 117 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • MPAA explanation: thematic material, language and some violence
  • Last updated: March 31, 2022

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