From the film poster © Joffrey Ballet reviews more Philip Bichard reviews

There is no plot as such, but over a period of some weeks we get to go inside Chicago's Joffrey Ballet and voyeuristically follow various threads, both professional and personal. Shot with digital video the style is a cross between a "fly-on-the-wall" documentary with it's uneven production values and shaky picture, and a traditional high-end Hollywood movie with its unrealistic perfection. The pioneering technique means that the viewer is taken into places not normally possible, at its best giving us an intimate and revealing insight, at its worst falling between stools.

This hybrid "movie-mentary" style produces a movie that can be difficult to grasp on to. Were we supposed to hear that sly comment in the background from a minor character or was that just color? Am I supposed to care about any of these people or am I expected to be just an dispassionate observer? Is this movie going anywhere or is it just about the view?

This isn't a film about star leads, but there are two main characters who we see more than the others - upcoming dancer Ry, played by Scream's Neve Campbell, and Artistic Director Mr. A, played by Malcolm McDowell. Some billing prominence is given to Ry's new boyfriend, a chef called Josh (James Franco) but this character is not developed at all and remains on the periphery of our attention. In a small scene typical of the whole film, she politely chastises her ex-boyfriend, a fellow company member, since apparently the rest of the company knew he had moved on to pastures new before she did. Such is a private life in the ranks of a dance company.
 

Neve Campbell and Malcom McDowell arguing...
© The Company

So the film has a "slice of life" angle that means there is no big fake finale set to a rousing score where maybe the backup dancer saves the world when the lead gets injured... except there kind of is, with a big twist. Talking of twists, balletomanes will smile at the the doting "Ballet Mother" that appears a few times.

One can see the film appealing mainly to non-hardcore dance fans, those people who don't already know what goes on in locker rooms and the rehearsal studio. The general public who take a chance may well find all that fascinating and hopefully their interest in seeing live dance is increased. That is to be hoped. Moviegoers who look beyond the daily coming and goings, perhaps on a second viewing, may find the dispassionate style, lack of plot momentum and flat characters a little dull.

The main problem with the movie is with the dance itself, which is a fairly large flaw for a movie about dance. The film opens with some kind of crass ribbon number with the opening credits laid over it. This shows immediately that this is not going to be a film about classical ballet. Indeed this, and many of the other prop-laden "ballets", would have been more comfortably performed by the Cirque du Soleil. One concept in a particularly silly new work was described, with a straight face like so: "Zebras come out of the snake's mouth. They are in black and white to represent 'the dualist nature of our existence.'" Oh please.

There are 10 "ballets" shown, to a greater or lesser extent. Some are only on screen for less than a minute, another is followed from the hiring of the choreographer, through rehearsals and cast changes, to the opening night itself. However, dance fans may have wished for less breadth and more depth, with more time given over to explore the actual dance itself. When dance was on screen the camera often missed the dancers, leaving you to wonder if the director was rushed or under-prepared. Perhaps he was just being deliberately artful - but the audience might have benefited from seeing the dance unfold without being distracted by pop video editing, wild camera angles and constant disorienting changes of position.
 

One character who had some depth was the AD, "Mr. A", a pillar of the local Italian community who entreats his fellow community leaders to not give their sons a hard time if they wanted to dance. He has a real mix of issues - an irritating micro-manager, part laughing stock, part self-proclaimed guru. What the film did manage to show was how dangerous one man's vision can be in leading a company down the wrong path, all costumed like the Emperor. He hates classical ballet, denouncing "lyrical" ballet as variously "silly" and "pretty - you know I hate pretty!". The ballet world did not really deserve a movie that actively attacked it, possibly alienating a young movie-going audience. A balancing opinion could have been found, perhaps from a young dancer seeing their tutu dreams going by the wayside in this inglorious quest for modernity. As a true reflection of the Joffrey's artistic direction it may be valid, but there seemed little reason to raise the issue so vociferously. The best scene by far is, ironically, the most classical pas de deux shown, where Ry and her partner manage to rivet an audience at an open-air performance despite a rainstorm lashing down.

Overall, a canape buffet of a movie - you had to make the effort to feed yourself, only to then realise the fare was insubstantial. A missed opportunity to show the glory of dance - or at least more of the blood, sweat and tears.