90 Swing Time

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)
Many claim that this is the best of the 10 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, and Time Magazine named it one of its All-Time 100 Movies. In this classic musical, Astaire plays Lucky, a gambler who misses his wedding to a young socialite and must come up with $25,000 for another chance at her hand. He ends up meeting the lovely Penny, a dance instructor, and soon forgets about his old flame. Songs include "The Way You Look Tonight."

Jason

Listen. No one could teach you to dance in a million years. Take my advice and save your money!

This movie was more amusing then I had thought it was going to be. It did a really good job of being comedic while still showing off the impressive skill of both Astaire and Rogers. However, I should say that while I know their dancing is impressive I really didn't have much interest in it.

The only dance sequence that I found myself actually paying attention to is when Astaire performs Mr. Bojangals of Harlem. While the dancing was impressive, especially the seen where he dances with the shadows. What really got my attention was the fact that Fred Astaire was wearing black face. Let me repeat that, Fred Astaire is in black face. While he's not doing it to be offensive it is still something that we all found very funny and couldn't help but crack up at.

I also think I enjoyed this movie so much because of Pops. Pops was Fred Astaire's friend and for lack of a better term, sidekick. Everything he did was to get Lucky (Astaire) out of trouble. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but regardless of the outcome it was always hilarious.

Final Thought- Would this movie make my 100? No. Do I regret watching it? No. Would I recommend this to other people? Probably not. I mean don't get me wrong the movie was enjoyable, but I don't think its something people need to see, if its on TV and you have two hours to kill then by all means check it out, but if you don't watch it your not missing much.

Bryan

"Ace of Spades!"

This disappointed me. I know enough about the film industry to know that Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are an iconic couple, so I had expectations for their on screen performance. Simply put, it was lacking. They were bland, and I can't say the chemistry between them was anything noteworthy. The reputation seems bloated to me.

The plot line was alright, but the characters reactions and emotions throughout were flat and unrealistic. I understand that it aimed to be an upbeat song and dance routine, but there was nothing to make me feel beholden to the characters. I enjoy upbeat movies where I can rejoice with the characters' triumphs, but these roles simply didn't feel human. The climax of the movie was as unbelievable as it was emotionally empty: Ginger Rogers laughingly switches grooms on her wedding night, and her spurned lover deals with the news by singing and failing to hold up his pants. Hilarious? I didn't feel it.



Final Thought: This doesn't make my list. They are impressive dancers, but I'm not going to put river dance on my list either. They simply don't do enough for me to consider them among the elite.


Angel

Lucky, please don't feel bad. You still got me. Course I ain't a young and pretty girl. I ain't even a girl, but I'll stick. I'll never leave you.

I don't really get it. By it I mean get what all the fuss is over this movie. It is not that the movie is horrible or anything but really? This movie is not all that amazing. To be honest, I can really only concentrate on one aspect of the film.

NO ONE GETS ANGRY!!!!!

I am not able to describe how annoying this fact really is. The movie starts with Fred Astaire being tricked by his performance group and showing up late to his own wedding effectively leaving his wife at the altar. Both she and her father seem angry enough before he shows up, but once he does and announces that he is off to make money its like a switch and they are one big happy family again.

The film continues with people getting annoyed and frustrated but never really angry. The worst offense is at the end of the film where Fred Astaire and his fiance agree to end their relationship, Astaire runs to get back Ginger Rogers who is about to marry the "antagonist". (i hate to call him that since he doesn't do much nor do he and Astaire really fight) Astaire pulls the same prank that was pulled on him at the start of the film. Rogers decides to go back to Astaire. Ricky Ricardo (not his actual name or look) sees everybody laughing about the joke, starts laughing himself and starts playing for their wedding.

I mean COME ON!!! Someone throw a chair or something. I just feel like the fact that no one ever got angry took away from the film. It felt like there was less emotional connection to the film.

Final Thoughts- I know that I just ranted about one aspect of the film, but to me it was the biggest distraction to film as a whole. Add to the fact that I was not really impressed by anything else in the film. Not having watched any of the other Astaire/Rogers films, I can not really say if it is the best or not but regardless I am not really sure as to why it is even on this list.