Movie Review: Ballet Shoes

I must make an effort to write these movie reviews sooner than I have been lately, so my memory will be more fresh. Ballet Shoes is a movie based on a novel I never read. My wife says the movie covered pretty much everything she remembered in the book.

Gains: +4
Wholesome. The movie was just plain wholesome. A kind man takes in a few orphans. They run into financial difficulties when he disappears. Most of the story is about the bond between the orphans and how they need to work and break into showbiz to get by. One of the created themes is the contrast between the need for hard work and the entitlement mentality of stardom. The movie pulled it off well.

Emma Watson stars as one of the orphans. Her normal onscreen cuteness monopoly is rivaled by that of Lucy Boynton, another of the orphans - the redhead. The other actors all appeared to bring general family nature to the film cast and to the screen. This feeling ebbs into viewers and sort of makes them feel a part of this family.

Losses: -0
At times some of the orphans get a little snitty or snotty, but the issue is properly addressed in the movie by other characters who used either slightly passive-aggressive chiding (by peers) or kind scolding by a motherly figure. The behavior was not tolerated by the other characters, thus making the bad attitudes a gain instead of a loss in this review.

Final Judgement: +4

While not action packed, Ballet Shoes had enough drama and endearing qualities to make it interesting. It's definitley worthy of a second look, though not too soon. The movie deals with serious issues relating to growing up, doing so by focusing on more positive aspects like helping the family out, hard work, facing the lure of stardom, not giving up in the face of difficulty or adversity, treating others as actual people despite their success or failure. I'm tired of a recent trend I've noticed in Hollywood to portray abuse and neglect as the norm, while deceit and self-focus are portrayed as natural responses to hardship.

I'm sure I have a good point in there somewhere, but you may need to interpret my intent.