Strictly Ballroom
Miramax Films | Release Date: February 12, 1993 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
0
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Grabbing every backstage musical cliche by the lapels, it sends each one pirouetting, then sprawling hysterically across the floor. It's hard not to love this kind of tribute. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleStaff(Not credited)
Metaphorically speaking, Strictly Ballroom celebrates individuality over homogeneity; for all its melodramatic flourishes and grotesque exaggerations, it never mocks the hero's dream of self-expression. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie is funny, energetic, and enjoyable -- the perfect film for a night or an afternoon out, regardless of what mood you're in. While the plot and characters don't boast any special depth, there's enough freshness to hold just about anyone's interest. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's silly, it's serious, it's outrageous, it's mundane, it's blowsy, it's lovely. Yet this fickle film has a constant heart - warm and very likeable. Read full review
80
Washington PostRita Kempley
It practically celebrates convenience of plot, over-the-top acting and follow-the-footprints dialogue, but mostly it is a salute to sequins and sashay. With just a hint of sarcasm. Read full review
80
EmpireMark Salisbury
Fluff it may well be, but a more entertaining and engaging piece of fluff you'd be hard pushed to find. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The movie musical may not have been dead after all, just resting up until this lot came around. [12 Feb 1993, p.F10]
80
VarietyDavid Stratton
Within the confines of this tried-and-true formula, Luhrmann has concocted a feel-good entertainment, which is lively, original (in an old-fashioned sort of way) and charming. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What's best about the movie is the sense of madness and mania running just beneath its surface. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Luhrmann is a director with the style and snap to have these tired routines on their feet and kicking like a line of Rockettes. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Luhrmann works aggressively for laughs early in the picture, playing up the gaudiness and piggishness of the old-guard dancers in camera angles as extreme and unflattering as a mid-'80s David Lee Roth video. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Baz Luhrmann's Australian film Strictly Ballroom is, in short, pure corn. But it's corn that has been overlaid with a buoyant veneer of spangles and marabou, and with a tireless sense of fun. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The movie is over before you know it, and is not one to linger in the mind, or indeed pass through the mind at all; but it's a good-humored ride for the senses, never too sickly, and who can say no to that? Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The dance-film equivalent of a female impersonator: The movie is absurd and sincere at the same time-it offers an insolent facsimile of grand passion. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineStaff(Not Credited)
One would have to be heartless not to be engaged by Strictly Ballroom's romantic, dewy sentiment, but the predictable plot is difficult to bear, as are the broad characterizations. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
A festival favorite in 1992, this flamboyant Australian crowd pleaser and first feature by Baz Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge") struck me then as one of the more horrific and unpleasant movies I'd seen in quite some time. Read full review
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