Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Leading Ladies

When her sister Sheri (Melanie LaPatin) has to pull out of a ballroom dance competition because she’s pregnant, Toni (Laurel Vail) reluctantly agrees to take her place on one condition, that she get to pick her own dance partner. When that partner turns out to be her new girlfriend Mona (Nicole Dionne), all heck breaks loose, especially since nobody knew Toni was gay to begin with (least of all Toni). Directors Daniel Beahm and Erika Randal Beahm throw everything they can up on the screen to make the comedy as zany as possible, and most of it works, too: The dance number set in a grocery store is priceless. The real thrill here, though, is discovering newcomers Vail and Lapatin as the sisters who would love to dance if only their dominating stage mother (the wonderful Shannon Lea Smith) didn’t hover over everything they do. The first dance between Toni and her new girlfriend Mona is pure poetry.

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