I wanted to like "Stepping Out" for its heart and to cheer for the underdogs in the story, members of a Buffalo, N.Y. tap-dancing class who are catapulted onto the stage as part of a big charity event, along with other acts featuring professional dancers. A cursory search reveals that the original play was a hit in London's West End, but a flop on Broadway. The original took place in London. This kind of film has been done before, usually in a sports setting, in films such as the superb "Hoosiers" and "Breaking Away".
I'd watch Liza Minnelli in anything, but she doesn't convince me that she's a washed-up Broadway hoofer giving tap classes in a rundown church hall and, with her voice and charisma, a blue-collar bar crooner performing sets with her guitar-playing boy friend. Anyway, niggling aside, here she is, so she's given a couple of musical numbers, one a solo spot in the empty church hall with the stained-glass windows ablaze with colour and a spotlight shining down on her from above. There are two films here. One is a Liza Minnelli showcase. The other is the underdog story: a group of amateur dancers with two left feet get their big chance to strut their stuff, and in the process, learn something about themselves. The problem, for me, is that everyone's a "type". There's Ms. Obssessive Compulsive who will prove that she's just folks, after all; there's Mr. Clumsy Nerd, the only male in the class, picked on by the women, who will finally prove that he's a man; there's Ms. Mouse, and so on. Liza, I must say, is game in this ensemble cast. There's a scene stealer at work, here, and that's Shelley Winters, who is both hilarious and touching as the group's long-suffering piano-player. The long-awaited Big Night performance by the troupe itself is fun and strikes the right balance between being quite good and endearingly goofy.
I'd watch Liza Minnelli in anything, but she doesn't convince me that she's a washed-up Broadway hoofer giving tap classes in a rundown church hall and, with her voice and charisma, a blue-collar bar crooner performing sets with her guitar-playing boy friend. Anyway, niggling aside, here she is, so she's given a couple of musical numbers, one a solo spot in the empty church hall with the stained-glass windows ablaze with colour and a spotlight shining down on her from above. There are two films here. One is a Liza Minnelli showcase. The other is the underdog story: a group of amateur dancers with two left feet get their big chance to strut their stuff, and in the process, learn something about themselves. The problem, for me, is that everyone's a "type". There's Ms. Obssessive Compulsive who will prove that she's just folks, after all; there's Mr. Clumsy Nerd, the only male in the class, picked on by the women, who will finally prove that he's a man; there's Ms. Mouse, and so on. Liza, I must say, is game in this ensemble cast. There's a scene stealer at work, here, and that's Shelley Winters, who is both hilarious and touching as the group's long-suffering piano-player. The long-awaited Big Night performance by the troupe itself is fun and strikes the right balance between being quite good and endearingly goofy.