This Japanese movie shares a lot more than just ballroom dancing with Strictly Ballroom -- it has the same energy, humor, charm, and sweetness (also the same tendency to caricature, easy wrap-ups, and two-dimensionality). It's the story of an accountant stuck in a rut (an accountant leading a boring life? Get out!) who, on his way home one night, spots a beautiful woman gazing longingly from the window of a dance school. Smitten, he enrolls in the school and gradually comes to enjoy dancing for its own sake, not just because of the teacher.
If this sounds less than thrilling, perhaps it's because, despite a tacked-on introduction which encapsulates the Japanese disinclination to public displays of affection, ballroom dancing just doesn't have the same ring of rebellion in this country that it evidently does in Japan. However, it's still an utterly engaging movie (though a mite too long) -- and if a date or a friend drags you to it when you'd rather be yukking it up with George of the Jungle, take heart -- there's plenty of sight gags, fat jokes, and farts to keep you entertained even if you miss the subtler humor. Besides, to paraphrase a friend of mine, there's nothing about ballroom dancing that's NOT funny.
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