Shall We Dance is a 2004 romantic Dramedy featuring Richard Gere as John Clark, a loving family man and lawyer who is going through a Hollywood Midlife Crisis. To deal with it, he enrolls in a ballroom dance class and experiences complicated feelings for one of the instructors (Jennifer Lopez) while coming to care more about the sport than he'd imagined at the beginning. He also gradually bonds with his classmates (played by Stanley Tucci, Lisa Ann Walter, Omar Benson Miller, and Bobby Cannavale) as they go through their own interesting experiences. In the meantime, his wife (Susan Sarandon) has hired two detectives (Richard Jenkins and Nick Cannon) to investigate the change in her husband's behavior.
It should be noted that Miramax (which was owned by Disney at the time) making this remake, and getting the rights to distribute the original Japanese version, was because of the very same Disney-Tokuma deal that established Disney's long-lasting relationship with Studio Ghibli.
The film is a highly faithful remake of a 1996 Japanese movie of the same name. Both films are unrelated to the 1937 film Shall We Dance?.
Tropes in the Film:
- Adaptation Personality Change: Beverly gets some scenes of eloquent contemplation about marriage that Masako never did in the Japanese film, and is also more willing to directly confront her husband about how hurt and angry she is over his secret keeping in the final act.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Chic is an Armored Closet Gay ladies man, while his counterpart in the Japanese movie, Tōkichi, is Happily Married to a woman.
- Armored Closet Gay: Chic is a burly flirt who insists that he is only joining the class to attract girls, complains about having to practice dancing with men, and brags about his romantic exploits, but he is seen romantically dancing with a man during the final scene.
- Camp Straight: Link is passionate about ballroom dancing and wears sparkly outfits along with a wig, makeup, and fake teeth (to try and wow judges when competing) while he dances, but is attracted to women and views his lifestyle as an Un Manly Secret while observing that he would be judged less mockingly for his passions if he was Camp Gay.Link: I mean, a straight man who likes to dance around in sequins walks a very lonely road, I got news for you.
- Dodgy Toupee: Link wears hideous wigs when he's dancing even — when practicing in the studio. It becomes an issue during a competition because a rival dancer keeps yanking at it, causing Link to lose the beat.
- Hollywood Midlife Crisis: John has a loving family and successful career but is starting to struggle with ennui. He feels some stirring when he sees Paulina dancing but, ultimately, finds a new spark through ballroom dancing.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Big Fun Vern only has a few scenes with his fiancée, but she is nearly two heads shorter than him, even in high heels, and at least fifty pounds lighter than him.
- Mistaken for Cheating: When John comes home happier than usual, smelling of perfume and lying about working late, his wife naturally suspects adultery until learning that he's just taken up ballroom dancing as a hobby.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jenna cheering for her father during the dance competition flusters him into making disastrous missteps, given how he had been unaware that his family was present (or even knew that he was a ballroom dancer).
- The Not-Love Interest: John joins the dance classes due to admiring instructor Paulina from afar, and she mentors him in sometimes sensual dances and opens up to him a lot, but John ultimately still loves his wife, and Paulina makes it clear that she only has professional interactions with her students and never shows any romantic passion expect when she is reflecting on her ex-boyfriend.
- Private Detective: Devine and Scott are a pair of Nice Guy Bunny-Ears Lawyer investigators who shadow John when his wife worries that he's having an affair.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Beverly asks John to teach her some dance steps in the hopes that they can reconnect and revitalize their marriage. When John declines, Jenna, their daughter, angrily asks what his problem is.
