Over Stepping It
Mavis Turner (Liza Minnelli) had once been a dancer on Broadway but now feels a bit of a has been, teaching tap to a bunch of misfits in a church hall and singing in a bar during the evenings with her boyfriend who puts her down all the time. But Mavis is approached to enter her dancers in a local charity gala. Despite them all being misfits they find that when they work together they can achieve amazing things.
I like Liza Minnelli, she is so talented be it singing, dancing or delivering comedy but in "Stepping Out" she is too much and that is purely because this feels like the Liza Minnelli show. Yes I know she is the star and this is a dance movie but what we get is dance, comedy, sing, comedy and dance on a continuous loop and it becomes too much. Yes there are other characters in the mix with Julie Walters delivering an over the top performance as a well spoken English lady who wears a leopard print leotard, yes you did read that right, Julie Walters in a leopard print leotard but they don't stop this being the Liza show and you have to be a huge Liza Minnelli fan to enjoy this.
Now in fairness the other characters all have their issues and it is the solving of issues, sharing of concerns, friendships being formed and so on which is the non dancing heart of the movie but it isn't great. Now for what ever reason almost every single actor in a supporting role seems to be suffering from the actors disease pause-itis. Yes all these actors need to pause at least once often more in the middle of every sentence.
What this all boils down to is that for me "Stepping Out" was a misfire and when it wasn't coming across like the Liza Minnelli show ended up a mishmash of misfits and characters.
