Review of Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2001) by John T — 25 Aug 2008
A well done realist view - as opposed to one that is moralistic, romantic, seductive, fantastic, or dramatic (as, say, the movie Erotica was) - of the depressing smoke-filled darkness of the world of the lounge lizard and the go-(almost)-nowhere life of a stripper.
How necessarily refreshing was the sunrise in the closing scene. Curiously enough, the true atmosphere is entirely missing from the trailer, even down to the deletion of a particularly telling end of the line in one of Sandra Oh's character's poems (which are REALLY GOOD poems).
The credits state that the movie was a project of improvisations developed by the actors themselves, which is pretty amazing. It's a great cast, and they carry the vaguely nihilistic tension through to the end, never allowing it to go over the edge, but also never allowing it to see the light of day.
Definitely not a movie to make you feel good about life, but a very good, thoughtful movie nonetheless.
This review of Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2001) was written by John T on 25 Aug 2008.
Dancing at the Blue Iguana has generally received mixed reviews.
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