Strictly Ballroom is an Australian film directed by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young ballroom dancer on his way to being a star until he improvised at a competition. He wants to go off on his journey with another dancer who similarly wants to dance her own steps whilst everyone around him is wanting him to fit into the pre-moulded dancer personality. A few months ago, I played drums for the live musical adaptation of this movie. However, it has taken me this long to watch the original movie.

I haven't seen many Baz Luhrmann films and this is because I generally like to stay away from them. I find these movies to be bizarre and quite difficult to watch. Strictly Ballroom isn't much of an exception. There were those classic strange Baz Luhrmann directorial choices in this movie; some which worked, and some which didn't. All of the decisions made sense thematically with some audiences enjoying them but the majority of them just made me feel uncomfortable. Some examples include extreme close-ups and sound effects. Another common feature was the exaggerated acting which made the movie completely unrealistic at most times. All of this made the movie feel like a kid's tv show (which it certainly was not) and this is something I have found to be common in Baz Luhrmann's films.

I can usually figure out an approximate rating for a movie based on the first five minutes. Not only did the opening of this movie feel quite full-on and very rushed, but it also had on display all the features of a Baz Luhrmann film that I tend not to like. So this opening skewed my opinion on the movie drastically, no matter what the next hour and a half held.

However, the next hour and a half were actually quite a bit better than the first five minutes. The movie slowed down, a lot of the acting improved and the movie wasn't as much 'in your face'. The movie was also reasonably funny. Many of the jokes were the same as those in the musical (some executed better, others not) so I was familiar with a lot of them, however, they were fun nonetheless. On the other hand, it felt at times that the movie was trying too hard to be funny, once again reminding me of a kid's tv show.

Sometimes when a musical adaptation is made after the movie, I find myself missing the songs written for the musical. This was the case with The Wedding Singer and Kinky Boots as well as Strictly Ballroom. I know I am probably very biased as I was involved with the musical version, however, I don't think I would have enjoyed Stricly Ballroom as much if it weren't for the musical. As I said earlier, I didn't think some of the jokes, or even characters, were executed as well in the movie, so seeing these gags in the movie only reminded me of the funny moments in the show.

Strictly Ballroom felt like it was on a low budget. I'm fairly certain it wasn't being a Baz Luhrmann film plus the big names in it, however, it felt like Lurhman had decided to make it feel low-budget. Of course, there's nothing wrong with being a low-budget film; some of my favourite movies were made on a low budget. However, my problem with Strictly Ballroom was that it felt low budget. Once again, this decision may have appealed to some viewers but certainly not to me. Going off that point: the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. I admire that quality in a movie and even in Strictly Ballroom. Strictly Ballroom may have been stretching that idea to its limits but that's maybe being a bit too picky.

Strictly Ballroom is a fairly enjoyable film. Being a Baz Luhrmann film, there are many things in the movie that I didn't enjoy but other audiences may enjoy these things. There are things in the movie such as the dancing, storyline and costumes that can certainly be admired. However overall, the movie isn't my cup of tea and I won't be watching it again.

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson

Year released: 1992

My rating: 5.5/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 24/09/2023