Stars: Sharon Stone, Rob Morrow, Randy Quaid, Peter Gallagher, Jack Thompson, Skeet Ulrich, Jayne Brook, Pamala Tyson

Director: Bruce Beresford

Summary: The story of a convicted killer facing execution. After twelve years inside for a double murder she is now prepared to die. But she is not prepared for the relationship she develops with the attorney assigned to save her life.

Director Bruce Beresford's LAST DANCE stars Sharon Stone as Cindy Liggett, a lower-class Southern woman who has spent the previous 12 years on death row for killing two of her teenaged classmates. Her legal appeals seem to have run their course, and the judge who is charged with reviewing her case has never pardoned a murderer. However, Rick Hayes (Rob Morrow), the lawyer appointed by the clemency board, begins to examine the records of her original trial and believes there's evidence for a stay of execution. The prospect of spending her remaining years in prison does not appeal to the disillusioned Cindy, though, and she's indifferent to Hayes and resigned to her death. Hayes, motivated both by a personal interest in Liggett, as well as a desire to prove himself to his contemptuous, politically connected brother (Peter Gallagher), refuses to accept her passivity and gradually persuades her to fight for her life.

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Save the Last Danceenjoyed a profitable release in early 2001, with box-office earnings that exceeded anyone's expectations. Its performance illustrates the staying power of a formulaic film that avoids the pitfalls and clichés that would otherwise render it forgettable. Since there's nothing new here, you'll appreciate the original quirks in a character-based plot that's just around the corner from Flashdance, and just as familiar. Sara (Julia Stiles) gave up a promising ballet career when her mother was killed while rushing to attend her daughter's crucial audition to Juilliard; Sara blames herself for the accident, and at her new, mostly African-American high school in Chicago, she's uncertain of her future.

Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) has no such doubts; his own future is bright, and his attraction to Sara is immediate; they connect (predictably), and Sara's dormant funk emerges, with Derek's coaching, as she learns hip-hop dancing in a local club. Obligatory subplots are equally routine: Derek's sister (Kerry Washington) is a single mom struggling with her child's absentee father; Derek's best friend (Fredro Starr) feels trapped in his gangster lifestyle; and Sara's once-estranged father (Terry Kinney) is doing his best to correct past mistakes. Within the confines of this standard follow-your-dream drama, director Thomas Carter capitalises on a script that allows these characters to be real, intelligent, and thoughtful about their lives and their futures. It's obvious that Stiles's dancing was intercut with that of a professional double, but that illusion hardly matters when the rest of the film's so earnestly positive and genuine. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1996
Release Date:	June 15, 2006
Runtime:	99 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888450
Keywords:	Last, General, Dance, Drama
Genre:	Drama