I've never heard of Neo but I have heard of Ne-Yo.

I have to disagree with the Ms. Zacharek glowing review of Take the Lead. First of all, for a movie about ballroom dancing, there was precious little of it in this movie--from Antonio Banderes or the teens. Most of the movie focuses on class and culture clashes (from a white middle-class perspective) and the slow process of learning to dance. We're then given the scant reward of a short, sloppily edited, final dance competition.

I also completely disagree with Zacharek's praise for the distinct, fully drawn characters. I was so disappointed in Take the Lead's depiction of the two "fat" kids. Unlike all the other children, they never learn how to dance well and are the butt of countless jokes and assumptions. To top it off, the large kids are the only characters without real names. In the credits and in the script they're referred to as "Big Girl" and "Monster." Apparently only skinny teens can dance or deserve names. Who knew?

And finally, Zacharek completely ignored the racist implications of a movie that depicts people of color as unilaterally poor and sexually-obsessed--yet happy and fortunate because they love jumpin and dancin to make all their troubles go away.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Good grief!

The first words out of my mouth when I saw an ad for this flick were "Mad Hot Ballroom." This magnificent documentary (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438205/)has to be the basic building block from which "Take the Lead" was created, and deserves a mention.

You want better dance sequences? Mad Hot Ballroom.

You want real drama? Mad Hot Ballroom.

You want to see something truly positive about inner-city school kids? Mad Hot Ballroom.

Frank

Entertainment Weekly's review notes that the whole point of the movie isn't that these kids learn to dance "old school," but that the kids and the teacher come together to create a fusion of swing and hip-hop -- and yet, there is no point in the movie where the viewer actually sees this new dance form.

I haven't seen the movie, and don't intend to, but can anyone who's seen it tell me which of these reviews in more on the mark? One of them has to be way off base.