"Mao's Last Dancer" (movie review).

Remember what I said in the last review about Hollywood movies??
This is another one of 'em, and has all the best and worst of that wellspring of saccharine cinematography...

This is one that ballet lovers possibly will love - great shots of feet, legs, torsos, jumps, pointwork, etc. (though I reckon that scene in Cirque du Soleil's "Journey of Man" 3D effort about 10 years ago, with the 2 entwined dancers, is hard to beat...)

I kept saying to myself, over and over as the movie progressed, "it's not that bad, it's not that bad", referring to the caricature of Communist China, the moment of choosing to defect, how good America obviously is, etc.

But it WAS that bad...sorry...

The movie is almost redeemed, strangely enough, by the acting performances of the supports - Li Cunxin's mum and dad as they face angry communist party loyalists back home, Kyle Mclachlan as an immigration lawyer, the Chinese Consul, the Ballet Director, AND by the ultimate ballet scene of the Rite of Spring.

But it is painting (or filming) by numbers.

Bruce Beresford has made better movies, as I recall, and although Hollywood-wise this is very satisfying (like diet coke), artistically it has air bubbles (like...)

I would LOVE to read the autobiography some time and see if the movie has twisted it.

But, come on, America (and Australia, a little bit)! Get over China already!

By the way, some of my best friends are American or have lived there, and are also very critical of the Hollywood syndrome - I am not generalising, I feel, when I lay into the Hollywood culture - am I?

5/10.