Entertainment

11:46 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School

A-

Starring Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei, Mary Steenburgen and John Goodman. Directed by Randall Miller. PG-13 (language). 103 mins. $26.96

GOTTA DANCE: This quiet, poignant story stands out even amid the slew of dancing-can-change-your-life movies like Mad Hot Ballroom and Take the Lead.

PROMISES, PROMISES: A widowed baker (Robert Carlyle), driving a truck, passes a man (John Goodman) in a wrecked car. The dying man tells the baker he was on his way to keep a 40-year-old date to meet a girl he danced with at the Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School. He begs the baker to go in his stead.

TWISTS AND TURNS: The story shifts to sad-eyed Mr. Carlyle, who slowly rediscovers hope through dancing and the acquaintance of a wounded classmate played by Marisa Tomei. The awkward-kid-dancing scenes from the dying man's memories offer a touching and funny contrast with the awkward-adult-dancing scenes.

BEST EXTRA: Yes, that's William Hurt narrating in the gem of a short film (fun and appropriate for kids as well as adults) that was expanded to the PG-13 movie. The depth and color Mr. Hurt brings to the simplest of lines offers a master class in acting.

BOTTOM LINE: An affecting, many-hankied tale of love lost and found.

Nancy Churnin