Cast: Briana Evigan. Tom Malloy, Catherine Mary Stewart, Joyce DeWitt
Critics Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Director: Tom Malloy
Duration: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Genre: Romance
Release details:
Opens in 30 cities nationwide on 10/7/22, as well as releases on VOD everywhere 11/8/222. www.askmetodancemovie.com
Story
On a starry night, Jack and Jill separately meet a fortune teller who predicts they will meet the love of their life before the end of the year, which happens to be only five days away. The countdown begins, and both Jack and Jill go on a series of horrible and hilarious dates, each worse than the next. With a string of missed encounters and New Year’s Eve approaching, will the prophecy come true? Are these swing dance-obsessed singles destined to meet and fall in love?
Review
Naming your characters Jack and Jill is tricky. No one is going to take them seriously. And here it’s clear that director Tom Malloy doesn’t even want us to. The two live in the same vicinity but they keep running into the wrong people rather than into each other and that’s what the whole plot is about. So, they have to go on a series of bad dates to find each other. Something like an episode of FRIENDS where Phoebe and Joey set Ross and Rachel on lousy dates so they could appreciate each other more and eventually start dating again.
It seemed like the gypsy-hippie woman who predicts their future was selling the same story to everyone so it’s hard to digest how our lead pair so easily buy into it but then again the whole idea is to have fun, however senseless it may be. It’s fun to watch Jack and Jill meet caricatures and stereotypes in the name of dates.
Some of the scenes and characters are more hilarious like Jill’s model date, who assumes she has called him fat and Jack’s friend who tries to set him up. And slowly it gets progressively bizarre and might we say somewhat repetitive too.
At this point you start to think how dumb are these two to keep missing each other until ofcourse the New Year’s Eve when they are supposed to find each other. Again, hard to digest but fun to watch.
To give due credit, the concept is great, with a lot of potential for comedy, and it works very well in parts. Once it gets into the loop, it becomes predictable. Performances wise the actors simply do as told and that is satisfactory for an easy breezy watch like this. The setup is cool and the pace isn’t overbearing.
Ask me to Dance surely can’t be taken too seriously, so if you just want to have a hearty laugh and a healthy dose of clichés then hit the dance floor, we say!
ReviewRon 