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Ep. 4 – Center Stage

Center Stage

This episode is all about the 2000 ballet flick, Center Stage!

In Center Stage, small-town girl Jodie Sawyer (Amanda Schull) earns a place at the prestigious American Ballet Academy in NYC. The American Ballet Academy is run by the demanding director, Jonathan Reeves (Peter Gallagher). Jodie and her new friends struggle to keep up with the demands of the program and each other. As they juggle relationships with competition and rehearsal, the ABA students learn some unexpected lessons. Set against the backdrop of the competitive ballet world, Center Stage is all about growing up and forging your own path – with some amazing choreography.

The conversation is all over the place this episode. Justin and Laura get into a spirited debate about whether Jodie is a naive small-town girl or just plain dumb. They also discuss the rarity of a film with no contrived personal drama or absurdly high stakes and why friendship montages are both cute and annoying. Other topics that come up are the cruel business of professional ballet, how well Center Stage holds up seventeen years later, and, most importantly, Peter Gallagher’s epic eyebrows. Justin even shares his expert insights from the made-for-TV sequels.

Next Time

We’ll take our first trip back to Old Hollywood with Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, Rear Window!

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