Unless you're a huge Liza Minnelli fan, you might not be drawn to a movie whose synopsis is "Liza teaches a dance class to a group of beginners and they all learn about life." But take my unbiased recommendation: This movie is heartwarming, inspiring, and extremely fun. If you really hate dancing, then yes, shy away from it. But even if Cabaret isn't your favorite movie ever, there's a really good chance you'll love this one.
Based off a highly successful British play, the opening scene is a textbook "give everyone their entrance" scene which you can totally imagine on the stage. Meek Sheila McCarthy is extremely internal and clearly needs to "step out". Ellen Greene doesn't have much character development, but her fantastic figure is distracting enough to make the audience forget she even has a character. Andrea Martin is over-the-top in everything, even her sneezes. Bill Irwin is the only guy in the class, and he feels a bit awkward "stepping out" of his comfort zone, but he also enjoys getting a bit embarrassed. Jane Krakowski is a young nurse who's more sensitive than she lets on. Robyn Stevan wears great 1991 fashions, and she chews gum and flirts with every man in sight - despite having a husband. Carol Woods is frazzled and frumpy, but her enthusiasm makes up for her skills. Finally, there's a new student: Julie Walters. She is so adorable! I had no idea she could dance, but I also had no idea that she had such a fantastic figure when she was younger! In nearly every scene, she wears skintight bodysuits and prances around with her perfectly coiffed hair and sweet expressions. What an absolute doll! If you just think of her as Mrs. Weasley (like the rest of the under-40 crowd), you'll be shocked to see her in this.
A very enjoyable part of the movie is to see the journey of the students' talent. They start off the movie (and spend a great deal of it) as very backwards dancers. Their timing is off, they can't remember the steps, and one of them can't spin around in a circle without falling over. As you see from later on in the movie, they're all very accomplished dancers (or if you recognize names from the cast like Jane Krakowski and Ellen Greene, you already know they're dancers) so it's very cute to see them dummy-down their skills. And you can imagine how much fun they had pretending they couldn't dance!
Now for the teacher: Liza Minnelli really pulls out all the stops in this movie. You can see the many layers of emotion she feels while teaching beginners' tap when she was once a Broadway hopeful. She has dramatic acting when her personal life crumbles, and inspirational pizazz when getting her students prepared for a performance. Plus, she has a big solo number that really shows off her dancing talent!
Liza's faithful sidekick is the piano accompanist who is more than just a piano player (incidentally, sometimes she nods off during class). They have each other's backs and really care about each other outside of class. She's an older, frumpy, overweight lady whom I didn't even recognize until she started talking - but then again, I'm in the minority. Most people think of Shelley Winters as the frumpy frump in The Poseidon Adventure. I think of her as younger, slimmer, and far cuter, like in Frenchie and Playgirl. However, when you're a fan of someone, you're a fan no matter how old they get or how much weight they put on. I like Shelley, and I always will.
So, gather up a group of your girlfriends (and bring in one fellow for fun) and pop in Stepping Out for movie night. It's very enjoyable, and really makes you feel good. I'm looking forward to watching it time after time.
