January (Web-only) 2001

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Christian critics didn't have much use for the first new releases of 2001—Save the Last Dance, Double Take, and Antitrust—but had plenty of kudos for several 2000 releases now making their way into wide release: Traffic, Thirteen Days, All the Pretty Horses, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

Christian critics admired the good intentions in Save the Last Dance, a drama about a ballet student (Julia Stiles) who has trouble fitting in with the hip-hop culture when she's forced to move to the city. Movie Reporter Phil Boatwright says it "teaches valuable lessons about the evils of bigotry and about the need for selfless acts in maintaining relationships." But the lessons remain rather shallow, he says: "Older folk, however, may snicker at viewing high schoolers on Hollywood's version of the road to self-discovery." Michael Elliott of Crosswalk.com agrees the potential was wasted. "Save the Last Dance tries hard to please on a number of levels: a treatise on the social stigma attached to interracial relationships which continues to exist in our day; a contrasting study of two different cultures existing side by side; and an inspirational message that one should never give up on one's dreams. It is therefore disappointing that its story is so contrived that each level is trivialized, and the film ultimately devolves into a rather average tale of love, friendship and dance." Movieguide also feels "the story is carried out in a way that comes across as synthetic, rather than bold," partly because "situations of implied fornication, underage drinking and other elements damage the movie's moral credibility." Preview was likewise disappointed that "inner city teens spout obscenities with ease" and that "although ...