TAP

US, 1988, 111 minutes, Colour.
Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr, Suzanne Douglass, Savion Glover, Joe Morton, Dick Anthony Williams, Harold Nicholas.
Directed by Nick Castle.

Tap is a star vehicle for Gregory Hines who danced to such effect in The Cotton Club and with Mikhail Baryshnikov in White Nights. Hines is a big man and rather than a light tapdancer, he is what is called a 'hoofer'. This does not prevent him from dancing also with the light touch.

There are several set pieces in the film which are highly enjoyable: the opening credits with Hines dancing in Sing Sing, the challenge by the old. tap dancers, a version of Irving Berlin's 'Cheek to Cheek,' a Fame-like jam session in Times Square and a grand finale.

There is a predictable enough plot about Hines as a thief getting out of Sing Sing, deciding whether to take up hi-;old life again or settle down to dancing, which had sustained him during his imprisonment. While the outcome can be foreseen, it is how the outcome occurs that retains some interest.

A bonus for viewers is the presence of Sammy Davis Jnr who does some dancing and offers an engaging performance. The film was written and directed by Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter, The Boy Who Could Fly).

1. An appealing dance film, drama, fable?

2. The New York locations, the streets, the dance classes, the hotels? The choreography and staging of the dance sequences?

3. The score, songs old and new? Styles of dance, tap, rhythms, visual presentation of energy? Solos, duos, group dancing? Editing and angles?

4. The set pieces: Sing Sing, the challenge from the ol& men, the rooftop version of 'Cheek to Cheek', the jam session in Times Square with the noises of New York, the shorter segments of Hines dancing, the grand finale?

5. The American traditions of tap, Broadway, hoofers? Hines and his personal style? The collage of the final credits and the tribute to the tap dancers?

6. Max in jail, the water dripping, the sounds, his starting to dance, keeping his sanity in solitude, the complaints of the other prisoners? Getting out, the prospects of jobs? Going to Sonny's side of the street? His attitude towards his father as a failure? His being taunted? The job in the kitchen? The room in the hotel? Going to dance as exercise, watching Amy, his love for Louis? Friendship with MO? The challenge of the old men and the competitive dancing? The contact with the thieves, the meetings and the social? His surveying the possible robbery? Friendship with Louis and the promise to take him to the ball-game? The tapdancing and the old men? Dancing for MO? The Times Square dance? The bargain and the evening with Amy, the rooftop, 'Cheek to Cheek', their love for each other? The question of whether to do the robbery or not? Amy taking him to the audition, his dancing, the humiliation by the director? Leaving, doing the job, the water and the tap, his decision to put back the diamonds? His punching his fellow criminals? The return to Amy and to Louis? To Mo and the job? The finale and his personal dancing? Achievement?

7. Mo and his age, his memories, his love for Amy and Louis, dancing, the challenge, hopes, the straight talk with Max? The other old men, Sandman and his perpetual groaning? Mo explaining Max's father to him?

8. Amy and her resenting Max's walking out on her, her being a teacher, Louis answering the phone, not wanting to dance, persuading the little boy to dance and his demonstratIon? Mo and the dancing, Amy and her meal with Max, hearing the truth, taking him to the audit.ion and his humiliation, the happy ending? Louis running after the car against Max, throwing the cards at him? The happy ending?

9. The sketch of the thieves, their relationships, pressure on Max, doing the job, putting the diamonds back?

10. The blend of tap and drama? Predictable? The finale - and a sense of uplift?