Directed by Nicholas Hynter, whose theatrical background provided a magnificent debut with The Madness of King George [1994], Center Stage is a drama set in the hugely competitive and pressured world of a New York Ballet company. By no means breaking any new ground, Hynter's movie dusts down the all-too-familiar staples of the likes of Fame and A Chorus Line and gives them a glamorous, energetic update. Fans of those classic "Backstage" movies can expect, and duly receive, all the usual clichés: the domineering stage mother; the dancer who risks health for success; the arrogant male lead dancer; the struggling newcomer; the imperious teacher; even the last-minute injury. Yet, like a guilty pleasure, it's hard not to enjoy Hynter's realistic and reverential glimpse of this ruthless, demanding world, never succumbing to overt soapy theatrics and filled with impressive dance sequences. While not as exuberant as Fame, it's still a fun, if depthless, look at the world of Ballet.

On The DVD: Hynter's commentary, while not brimming with technical detail or thrilling anecdote, allows him to expound on this particularly demanding profession, as well as his personal recollections of theatrical life. While the two deleted scenes are forgettable, Dance fans will enjoy the five extended performance sequences, while a making-of featurette and Mandy Moore video round off a slight package. --Danny Graydon

In the opening scenes of Central Station, colourful crowds of Brazilians stream into and out of a Rio de Janeiro train, pushing through doors and windows. You're immediately pulled into the brutal vitality of a nation in motion, setting the tone for a picturesque road movie that charts Brazil's renaissance in a little boy's search for his father and an old woman's emotional reawakening. When we first meet Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), this frozen-hearted, sour-faced woman is the epitome of immobility: day after day, she sits in the train station selling her letter-writing skills to all comers, but often doesn't bother to mail these precious messages. When a woman who's paid Dora to write a pleading note to her son's long-missing dad gets run over by a bus, the child, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), is up for grabs. (The summary execution of a thieving street kid--seen in longshot--underscores the seriousness of this waif's plight.) After an abortive attempt to sell Josue for a new TV, the aspiring couch potato finds herself reluctantly propelled into an occasionally Fellini-esque odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil's sertäo, where Dora and her sidekick find unexpected faith and family. Former documentary filmmaker Walter Salles (Foreign Land) mixes magic with realism in his appreciation of striking faces and places, but Central Station is primarily fuelled by the tough/tender performances of Montenegro, Brazil's Judi Dench, and de Oliveira, an airport shoeshine boy Salles cast over 1,500 other hopefuls. (Montenegro was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and Central Station was in the running for Best Foreign Language Film.) No cloyingly cute child-star, de Oliveira plays Josue as a bracingly idiosyncratic brat. And watching Dora's face and soul slowly, unwillingly unclench as she gets back in motion--and emotion--is potent pleasure, even if Salles' trip does dead-end in soap opera as his Brazilian pilgrim's progress winds down. --Kathleen Murphy, Amazon.com