Shall We Dance is about John Clark played by Richard Gere. He is a middle age Estate Lawyer. We are shown his typical day where he is coming on a train from office. He gets home and his wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) 2 children Jenna (Tamara Hope) and Evan (Stark Sands) have planned a special birthday dinner for him. The next day on the train he sees Miss Mitzi Dance School out of the window of the train. He sees Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) in the window. John gets home and Jenna is having a private party with her friends in her room and he walks in they scream. The next day on the train he sees the school again and tries to wave to Paulina who doesn't see him. When he gets home he researches ballroom dancing and finds the school. It gets his curiosity going.
He finally gets off the train and goes into the dance school to check it out. He sees the sign where it says he can watch. He is hesitant to walk up the stairs. He runs into a brash student named Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walker). She hands him some of her costumes. He gets upstairs and Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette) is teaching student and asks if he wants to sign up for some lessons. He says yes and she calls Paulina over to help. He signs up and is ready to leave when she tells him class starts tonight. He goes over to the bench with the other students Chic (Bobby Cannavale) and Vern (Omar Benson Miller) who are there to meet girls. Some walk in but walk out when they see not many people. Miss Mitzi starts to teach the class and they all fumble a little. As to encourage them to keep dancing she calls Paulina over with her dance partner to show them a dance.
After class, John, Chic and Vern go out for dinner with Bobbie and find out why all of them are taking dance class. Chic is there to pick up women. Vern is there because he is getting married and fiancé thinks this is a good way to lose weight. Bobbie because she is allowed to practice for free for a competition she entered. John is too shy to tell them but they figure it is Paulina. Bobbie tells them that Paulina was heartbroken about her last boyfriend.
Over weeks in class they all get better at dancing and are proud of themselves. John stares at Paulina who is practicing by the mirror in another room. She then stares out the window and is very sad.
At Beverly’s job she is in a meeting with some co-workers because they having trouble with one of their suppliers whose stuff is on backorder. She asks Carolyn (Sarah Lafleur) if they can go to NY to meet with the supplier. She says no that she thinks her husband is having an affair. They ask how does know. She picked up the phone to make a phone call and heard him on there talking quietly. They said maybe he was being quiet for the kids or planning surprise for her birthday. Beverly tells her to take a breathe before she does anything. Carolyn walks out of the room. The other worker says Carolyn will be divorced by Easter.
John walks into dance class and everyone is already practicing. He notices someone in a wig that looks familiar. It turns out to be his friend Link (Stanley Tucci) from his office. If the person that Stanley Tucci is dancing with looks familiar well, she should. It is Karina Smirnoff from “Dancing with the Stars.” John and Link go out to talk after class so Link can explain why he is taking classes and why he wears a disguise. Link says every since he was young he liked to dance and would be teased. Link tells John not to tell anyone at work because he doesn't want to be teased. John says the same thing but Link said John is too perfect to be teased.
Beverly calls John’s friend Andy to see why he isn't home yet. His wife answers and said Andy is already home. John then walks in. He tells her he was working late with Andy. Beverly doesn't let on that she knows he is lying.
Later that night, Jenna hears music coming from her parents room then looks in to see that her dad is dancing with a broomstick in his arms. Jenna goes to her mom who in the laundry room and tells her that her dad is acting strange. Beverly who is doing laundry smells John shirt to see if it smells strange.
At Beverly’s office the next day Carolyn is in tears telling them about her husband cheating. That he met someone online in a chat room 5 years ago. She goes on to say her husband is moving out. That she thought her marriage was good and had no idea. Beverly is beginning to wonder about her marriage. Beverly goes to a private investigator, Mr. Devine (Richard Jenkins) to have him follow her husband and see what is going on with him. He tells her that she may need to look the other way and it may just be a one time thing. She insists that it isn’t. She says it may be he is sneaking around with others who invest things. He calls in his assistant Scottie (Nick Cannon) to help on the case. Mr. Devine tells her they will find out why he is smelling like potpourri.
John goes with his friend Link to a dance. Link is dancing with a girl when some another dancer come along and steals her away. The other dancer you will also know from “Dancing with the Stars,” Tony Dovolani. John runs into Miss. Mitzi who tell him she is there to watch the competition. Then the song “Shall we Dance” comes on. It is her favorite song and she tells John she coaxes John into dancing. After the song is over she Link goes up to the girl and asked her why she left him. She tells him he is a freak because he has self tanner all over his hand. He walks out very sad. As he is leaving we see Mr. Devine.
One night at dance class, Paulina fills in for Miss Mitzi. As she is teaching John, Scott walks in to watch the lesson. His cover is that he is a reporter. Bobbie is on the other side of the room eating and questions Scott. As they watch the lesson between Paulina and John, Bobbie accidently spills food on Paulina’s coat.
After class, John follows Paulina out to see if she is alright. He hands her a handkerchief so she can clean her leather coat. She is sad that it is stained. He said he will never understand how leather coats can get stained but not cows. Then he asks her if she is hungry. She gets very unrelenting and tells him she doesn’t socialized with students. She gives him a stern warning that if he joined to the dance school for anything but to learn to dance then he picked the wrong place. She tells him she takes dancing very seriously. Then she walks away. In the car is Mr. Devine watching them talk.
Beverly is at Mr. Devine’s office so he can tell her what he has found out about her husband. He tells her that John has been taking dance lessons. She sees all the pictures they have and asks who the young women is. He tells her it is a substitute teacher. Beverly who is sitting very close to Mr. Devine looks at him and asks, “What would make a man who's done the same thing for the last 20 years suddenly do something so completely out of character just out of the blue?” He tells her she needs to ask a shrink. Then she looks at him and says no I am asking you as a man. They look sort of passionately at each other for a few seconds and then he calls Scott into answer the question. Scott says, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," Maybe the desperation can't be quiet anymore. She thanks him for the answer. Mr. Devine tells her that her husband will be done dancing very soon. She asks how he knows that. He tells her voice of experience and he will be home soon.
John is on the train heading home from work, and going to his next lesson. He gets off at his stop and goes up stairs to the school but has second thoughts. He leaves the school and starts walking back to the train when he runs into his son, Evan. Evan is shocked to see his Dad and asks him why he is there. John tells him he was at a client. Evan invites his Dad to the club to help him get a girl. He goes in with his son. While sitting with Evan and his friends John sees everyone happy dancing and decided he wants to dance to so he leaves and goes back to the school.
He apologizes for being late to class. He joins in. After class Paulina looks out the window to see that John is dancing while waiting for the train.
At the next class, Bobbie is dancing with Vern. Vern tries to hold Bobbie close but she is disgusted because he is sweating all over. She tells him to stop. She tells him he needs to tell them truth that he is not really engaged. He finally comes clean and says that he is taking lessons so he can lose weight and then ask the girl. He said he was going to take her dancing but he figures he can't if he was going to be sweaty. Bobbie said she is sorry for being so truthful then she turns around and passes out.
At the hospital, Bobbie’s daughter is mad that her mom doesn't spend anytime at home. She works long hours to afford her costumes for her dancing. Bobbie tells John he smells good. Miss Mitzi agrees. They all embarrass John. Paulina suggests they leave. As they are walking, they see the movie “Shall we Dance” starring Fred Astaire playing on the TVs in the electronic store. This is when Miss. Mitzi has an idea that John should be Bobbie’s dancing partner in her next competition. John says no. Miss. Mitzi tells him that she will start helping them practice on Monday. The others tell him to stock up on deodorant.
Beverly meets Mr. Devine for a drink to tell him his services are no longer needed.
At their first rehearsal, John is not too happy to be dancing with Bobbie. Miss. Mitzi tells them that Paulina will be videotaping the rehearsal so they can see what they are doing wrong. Their first dance is the rumba but John has no interest in Bobbie so it is not a good dance. Then Paulina shows him what he is doing wrong. She tells him it has to look like there is some love between them.
At the office, John asks Link to dance with Bobbie because he know Link knows all the dances. Link at first says no but then agrees. At class Bobbie has to be convinced to dance with Link. She asks him if he is done with the underage bimbos. He says yes. Bobbie will dance with him.
Miss. Mitzi informs Vern and Chic that they will be dancing in the competition too. They all begin rehearsals. At the office John and Link are practicing in the bathroom just as a co-worker walks in. Link collapses in John’s arms. John tells the co-worker to call 911.
After the rehearsal before the competition they are practicing with Paulina, Bobbie and John are exhausted. Paulina apologizes for working them so hard. After Bobbie leaves she talks to John and tells him she is sorry for treating him badly the first time they met. She then asks him to dinner where he notices what he thinks is a different coat. She tells him it is not. That her father dyed it black for her. That her father is a dry cleaner. She tells John the story of how she became a dancer because when she was 8 one of the customers was a dancer to gave them tickets to a show. This is when Paulina fell in love with dancing. She asks John why he is dancing. He tells her that it is because he would watch her from the train when she was standing at the window. She asks him if he is nervous. She tells him yes. She invites him back to the school and shows him how not to be nervous and dances with him.
Want to see what happens next you will need to watch the movie...
Shall We Dance DVD
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