J.LO GIVES GERE URGE ... TO DANCE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

THE WELL-LOVED Japanese film ``Shall We Dance?'' has been remade into a slicker, less emotionally credible Hollywood heartwarmer. Not having been overly impressed by the sentimental original, I'd say the trade-off of better storytelling for sexier swaying about splits the difference. It should be the feel-good hit of the third week in October.

Richard Gere stars in the new version as Chicago estate lawyer John Clark. He's got nice kids and a great wife, Beverly (Susan Sarandon), who does something unspecified out of a big office at Saks. But busy lives make for little quality time. On his El rides home, the vaguely dissatisfied John takes notice of a beautiful young woman, Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), gazing wistfully out the upper-floor window of Miss Mitzi's Dance Studio.

John soon signs up for classes, along with a small bunch of colorful losers. A frequent visitor turns out to be a vain but talented co-worker, Link (Stanley Tucci), who's kept his dancing jones a lifelong secret lest colleagues think he's gay or something. There's also Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter), a loudmouthed broad who ends up being John's competition dance partner. As for the elusive instructor Paulina, she makes it crystal clear that if John is there to hit on her, he'd be wise to waltz away to a different nighttime activity.

Of course, John is there to hit on her, which is why he keeps his growing terpsichorean interests secret from his wife. No dummy, Beverly hires a hygiene-challenged private detective (Richard Jenkins, in the only really funny of many ``funny'' supporting roles) to see what's up. By the time she learns the truth, John really is only dancing for the sake of dancing - despite the fact that whenever Paulina performs a demonstration, it's steamier than most pole dances (and, from what I could discern through Lopez's clingy costumes, unhindered by any restricting undergarments).

None of this is very convincing dramatically; it probably worked better in the context of Japanese social, business and gender role conventions. On the plus side, though, British director Peter Chelsom (``Hear My Song'' and - yikes - ``Town and Country''), doesn't cut the dance sequences too heavily. Even though he's playing a clumsy novice, we actually get a fuller idea of what stage-trained hoofer Gere can do here than we did in the stroboscopically shredded ``Chicago.''

The guy is graceful. But for all its smooth Hollywood polish, ``Shall We Dance?'' feels, overall, endearingly clunky. It wants so badly to curry date-night favor, it never risks doing anything that would make for a memorable move.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

SHALL WE DANCE? - Two and one half stars

(PG-13: language)

Starring: Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Lisa Ann Walter, Stanley Tucci, Richard Jenkins.

Director: Peter Chelsom.

Running time: 1 hr. 46 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Unhappy estate lawyer reinvigorates life by learning ballroom dancing but somehow can't bring himself to tell his wife about it. Worked better in the original's Japanese context but relatively light- footed and painless.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Richard Gere is a Chicago attorney and family man who takes up ballroom dancing after he catches sight of Jennifer Lopez in the studio where she teaches.