like the best thing that could happen to anyone. That's no easy task." In a three-star review, Roger Ebert said that despite the film's clichéd story and romance, "the development is intelligent, the characters are more complicated than we expect, and the ending doesn't tie everything up in a predictable way." Charles Taylor of Salon wrote, "for all its dumb clichés it offers the basic appeal of teen movies: the pleasure of watching kids be kids, acting as they do among themselves instead of how parents and teachers expect them to act." Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Mark Caro wrote, "On paper the movie is full of cliches recently explored elsewhere...Yet in this case the outline is not the story; the people who inhabit it are," and in this way, "Save the Last Dance triumphantly passes the audition." Negative reviews criticized the editing style of dance scenes, the film's "after-school special"-like subplot, and the script for not delving enough into the issues of interracial relationships. Critic Wesley Morris wrote "the movie combines the worst of urbansploitation with the worst of teensploitation, and outfits them both in makings of the ultimate racial-crossover melodrama -- teen motherhood, deadbeat teen dads, drive-bys, a dangerous ex-girlfriend, speeches straight from the pages of Terry McMillan." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "director Thomas Carter is afraid to pump up the volume on its own interracial, hip hop Romeo and Juliet story, lest it challenge even one sedated viewer or disturb the peace." Awards and nominations Sequel A sequel to the film, titled Save the Last Dance 2, was released direct-to-video on October 10, 2006. See also Dirty Dancing, a 1987 film which starred Patrick Swayze, a performer from the Joffrey Ballet Step Up, a 2006 film starring Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, and Mario Dance Flick, a 2009 spoof film which starred Damon Wayans, Jr., and Shoshana Bush References External links 2001 films 2000s musical films 2000s teen romance films 2000s teen drama films American dance films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films American teen drama films American teen romance films 2000s English-language films Films set in Chicago Films shot in Chicago 2000s hip hop films Films about interracial romance Films about race and ethnicity Paramount Pictures films MTV Films films Films scored by Mark Isham 2001 drama films Films directed by Thomas Carter (director) 2000s American films