John Clark (Richard Gere) is a lawyer with a charming wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) and loving family with kids Jenna (Tamara Hope) and Evan (Stark Sands), who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. John takes the L train to work, where he helps clients decide how to distribute their assets in the event of their death. To John, every life can be summed up on a piece of paper with assets and liabilities, and that is a very depressing thought to him. John is so into his thoughts about the meaning of life, that he cannot even tell his wife what he wants as a gift for his own birthday. John feels very lonely as all members of his house are completely engrossed in their own lives and do not have time for him. Each evening on his commute home through Chicago, John sees a beautiful woman staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for ballroom dancing lessons, hoping to meet her. As John enters the dance studio, he is greeted by Paulina, who registers him as a single student, with classes at $45 per hour, which drops to $40 per hour, if a 8 class package is chosen. John is signed up for a group that meets every Wednesday at 7:30 PM for 8 weeks. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), but the older Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette), and John proves to be just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates Chic (Bobby Cannavale) and Vern (Omar Miller) on the dance-floor. Chich admits that he has come to the dance studio to pick up dates. The guys were supposed to be paired with women who had also signed up for the same class, but the women leave after taking one look at the 3 guys. This leaves the men alone with Mitzi. Mitzi ends up using may props on the dance floor to teach the basics of ballroom dancing to the 3 men. Meanwhile Paulina practices her routine with her partner Francesco in a different room at the studio. Vern reveals that he is soon getting married and he took up ballroom dancing to surprise his fiance and also to lose 3 pounds. Bobbie is the only female at the studio, who comes in as Mitzi allows her to practice anytime she wants. Bobbie tells the guys that all the women attend a competitor dance studio, which is considered hip and more glamorous. Bobbie aims to compete at Chicago's biggest ballroom dancing competition and is looking for a partner. Bobbie tells the guys that Paulina competed and lost at Black Pool, an England dance competition that attracts the best dancers from all over the world. She competed with her partner and lover, who ended up dumping her. Thats when Paulina felt lost and came back to the US and became a teacher with Mitzi. As the classes progress, John finds himself attracted to the mysterious Paulina. This also means that John is late coming home once every week. Jenna notes that John seems happier than usual and points it out to Beverly. Beverly finds that her colleague's husband is having an affair and suspects that John is having one too. Even worse, when John does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. John finds that his office colleague Link has also joined the dance class. At office, Link is bald and boring and yet he is an expert at Latin dances and has long luscious hair (on account of a wig) at the dance class. Link says that he is passionate about dancing and was mistaken for being gay all his life. Link says that his dream is to be able to dance under his own name for the whole world to see. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago's biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife Beverly becomes suspicious. She hires a private investigator to find out what John is doing, but when she finds out the truth, she chooses to discontinue the investigation and not invade her husband's privacy. John is partnered with Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter) for the competition, although his friend Link (Stanley Tucci) steps in to do the Latin dances. Link and Bobbie do well in the Latin dances, and while John and Bobbie's waltz goes well, John hears his wife and daughter in the crowd during the quickstep, and is distracted by trying to find them. He and Bobbie fall and are disqualified, and John and Beverly argue in the parking structure. John quits dancing, to everyone's dismay. Paulina, having been inspired by John to take up competing again, is leaving to go to Europe, and is having a going-away party at the dance studio. She sends John an invitation, but he's not convinced to go until his wife leaves out a pair of dancing shoes that she bought him. He goes and meets Beverly at work, convinces her that while he loves dancing, he still loves her just as much, and they dance. They go to the party and John and Paulina have one last dance before she leaves. The end scene shows everyone afterwards: Link and Bobbie are now together. Chic, who was actually gay, dances at a club with his partner. Miss Mitzi finds a new partner, and they are happy together. John and Beverly are back to normal and dance in the kitchen. Vern, newly married to his fiance, dances with her at their wedding. The private investigator that Beverly hired, Devine (Richard Jenkins), starts up dance lessons and Paulina, with a new partner, competes at Blackpool, the competition that she had lost years before.
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