Mishaps and near misses abound in “Ask Me to Dance,” which is playing for free at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center at 4 pm on New Year’s Eve. The theme is “a perfect fit,” as it’s about Jill and Jack, two young, attractive singles looking for love before the stroke of midnight at the turn of the year.
Superb club dancing opens the film as Jill (Briana Evigan) and her friend Patrick (Mario Cantone) expertly cut a rug.
The tone is set when, at the end of the song, a man comes up to try and grab the next dance with Jill, and Patrick, who is gay, happily pretends to be Jill’s husband to swat away the unwanted attention. “See this ring?” Patrick says to the guy, pointing to it on his held-up hand. “It’s platinum. That means strength. You can’t break platinum.” As soon as the guy walks away, Jill and Patrick agree, though, “He was so hot!”
The two of them sit out of the dance contest that follows but watch mesmerized when the star dancer/emcee goes into the crowd to supposedly pick the most awkward guy as her partner. It turns out to be Jack (Tom Malloy), who astounds everyone with his moves. (Multi-talented, Malloy also wrote and directed the film.) It turns out that Jack, a divorced ex-ballroom dance teacher, was a plant. The long series of missed opportunities begins when he leaves the club just seconds before Jill comes over to try and introduce herself.
On their separate ways home, a mysterious cat lady approaches Jill, and then Jack, telling each of them they will find their true love five days away, before the new year.
The countdown unfolds, a day at a time, and Jack and Jill go on a series of horrible and absurd dates, each worse than the last.
As with all romcoms, the ending is no surprise. But the path there is amusing, with some genuinely funny acting by the supporting cast and Malloy’s and Evigan’s endearing performances. The winning star throughout this good-natured film, though, is the dance sequences, and you want to watch the extra footage at the very end, which will leave you feeling darned tinglingly good — the perfect way to go into the new year.
“Ask Me to Dance” screens for free at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 4 pm. Limit four tickets per customer at mvfilmsociety.com/2024/12/ask-me-to-dance.
