Customer Reviews

Stepping Out [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

STEPPING OUT is Liza Minnelli's last big-screen feature to date, before she concentrated on her concert performances and her health started to decline.

Liza plays Mavis Turner, a has-been Broadway hoofer who now teaches tap lessons and sings in a bar in her spare time. The charming group of misfits who all come together once a week for their tap lesson share with Mavis the joys and sadness of their lives. When the group is asked to perform at a charity gala, they realise what the group really can accomplish.

STEPPING OUT is a blue-haired version of A CHORUS LINE, charming, poignant and occasionally heartbreaking. The immensely-talented ensemble of actors featured represent some of the best talent in movies today.

Among the actors are seasoned veteran Broadway performers Ellen Greene, Jane Krakowski and Bill Irwin, along with Canadian actress Sheila McCarthy and legendary Shelley Winters and Julie Walters.

Liza shows us her stuff in some great dance numbers, while her vocal prowess is also given time to shine.

A memorable film and very inspirational, STEPPING OUT is a great old-fashioned, feel-good movie.

As a dance teacher, I found this movie to be an lovely statement to all that is positive about dance and the benefit of dance class for everyone. The lives of the dancers in this movie were all enhanced by their dance experience. For those who are adult and want the dance experience in their lives, this movie covers it all. It is funny, and sad and encouraging and educational. I would like to think that this movie also speaks to those who have always wanted to dance but were afraid to try. This movie will give them hope and courage to try and find the joy for themselves. Liza Minelli does not over power the cast. As the star she is, you watch as the story unfolds and the musical dances itself out.

This is a film that truly reminds you that they just don't make 'em like they used to.

I recently rediscovered this film only a couple of months ago when a local video store was selling off some of their old stock. I had been a part of the stage version a year before, and had found the story to be heart warming and charming.

And the film is much the same...truly a forgotten gem of a film that will bring a smile to your face. Of special note are Shelly Winter's wonderful comic moments, and Liza's amazing dance segments. This film appears to capture Liza in the last of her great years...before her health slipped away from her. In this film, she will take your breath away with her rich voice and sublime dance skill.

Most of all, this film will take you back to the golden days of movie musicals, and remind you that they don't make 'em like they used to.

Actually, this film did receive a theatrical release, in October 1991. It was originally supposed to have been released in April 1991 to benefit from the great publicity Liza was getting with her smash stage show "Stepping Out at Radio City." However, Paramount, for reasons still unknown, delayed the release.

"Stepping Out" was Liza's first movie since the twin disasters "Rent A Cop" and "Arthur 2" in 1988. Paramount unwisely pushed the film as a star vehicle. In many ways it is, but it is also an ensemble piece, and could have benefitted from sneak previews and more focused buzz. When Paramount finally released it, they platformed it in NY and LA and the initial results apparently panicked the studio. They more or less pulled the plug on any significant advertising, and the movie lasted about four weeks total. It received scattered dates across the country thereafter, but never truly a wide release. "Stepping Out" had been a modest success in Britain months earlier, even garnering a British Academy Award nomination for the hilarious Julie Walters (she deserved one here too). I've always regretted Paramount's handling of the movie; it is truly an audience picture ("Rocky" meets "A Chorus Line") and some savvy nurturing could have produced a hit, not to mention a resurrected Minnelli movie career.

So I agree with the guy below who said this should have been a hit. I was at the premiere and everyone thought this would put Liza back on top in films. Alas, it was not to be. But this is her third best movie, after "Cabaret" and "The Sterile Cuckoo." And it is finding new life on video, it seems.

"Stepping Out" is a very entertaining movie. I wish they would release this movie on DVD. I have watched my VHS of "Stepping Out" so much that I have just about warn it out.

This movie draws you into a story about a group of people who are taking a tap dancing class. As the movie progresses, you get to know and love each of these characters.

The tap dance class is invited to perform for a fund raising event that will include some of the best dance classes and performers in Buffalo, New York (where this story takes place). They are the hit of the show and the mistakes they make are thought to be intentional as part of the act. The audience loves them and asks them to return the following year.

Liza Minelli is great in this movie and her talent to act, sing and dance are emphasized in the film. I love the character she portrays. Shelley Winter is great as the fiesty piano player for the tap dancing class.

I would recommend this movie to anyone. Very entertaining, with a touch of compassion and heart. The movie ends with Liza singing and then the members of her class join her in a big tap dancing number. A very upbeat, feel good ending!

Liza Minnelli plays Mavis Turner, an ex-Broadway dancer that prepares a mismatched group of seven women and one man to perform at a charity gala.
Guaranteed to keep your feet tapping and hands clapping.
Superb cast and another unique performance by the incomparable Liza Minnelli.

Its ashame,but no one will give Liza a break.This film went right to Video when it was released.I rented this movie and showed it to my friends who are not Liza Minnelli fans,they Loved it.This shouldn't have been a mega hit,but a nice small film that makes you fill good inside. Everyone in the Movie is great,and the tap dancing wants you to start taking tap dancing lessions while your watching the film.Liza was having a great comeback at this time.She was breaking records touring with "Stepping out"and never looked better. If this happens to be the last Liza Minnelli film,it would be a fantastic last movie from one of the greatest entertainers ever.

This is no classic by any means, but I saw it several times, bought the video as soon as it was released, and it never ceases to amuse me. Liza is wonderful in it. Wanna be cheered up? Get it. You'll thank me.

Liza Minnelli, Shelley Winters, Carol Woods, Bill Irwin and numerous other equally talented actors put on an endearing, convincing and just plain fun to watch performance in Stepping Out. According to Liza, the actors had to work really hard to do this--and it shows! They learned to tap dance professionally eight hours a day for five weeks, six days a week and man, how they were able to make it look so easy in the film!

Minnelli plays the leader of a somewhat amateurish older group of performers who struggle from the word go to put on a good performance at a Buffalo theater. (In actuality the movie was filmed in Toronto.) They hustle really fast and despite some infighting they get it all together at practically the last minute--but when they see the Buffalo theater man how they get goosebumps!

I wasn't really expecting much from this film; as time has passed it really isn't remembered as well as Cabaret, New York, New York and Arthur as being a great vehicle for Liza Minnelli. Man, was I wrong! They all did great and the dancing scenes truly are works of art that help the plot continue ever so smoothly at the same time. The emotional story with its somewhat predictable ending is something you'll watch again and again. I don't want to be a plot spoiler; but obviously if you look at the cover art of the video you can pretty much already tell it's not a tragedy--they succeed despite tackling some meaningful life issues and obstacles and they share their giftedness with their audience.

The only diappointment was the lack of extras that we are all so commonly used to these days when we purchase a copy of a movie on DVD.

I recommend this movie for Liza fans as well as fans of great dance and theater. It's also an uplifting and inspiring story of what real people can do when their backs are to the wall and they truly focus in order to succeed.

This is one of the best "feel good" films on the market today. It was sorely under-rated and Liza should have recieved major kudos for it! If you like to smile this is the best film for you.