Biography in pas de deux. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jul 19, 2022

This is an inspiring, sensitive look at a man who rose through chance and determination and gave up everything for a brief career center stage as a principal ballet dancer in America and then Australia.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 14, 2021

It's easy to understand why Sardi compresses the story, however, the compression leaves the film's dramatic arc at times feeling rushed.

| Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Sep 15, 2020

The ballet sequences are beautifully choreographed and a treat to be savored. You'll view Li's progression as an international artist as he becomes one of the best ballet dancers in the world.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 14, 2020

Powerfully compelling and passionate, MAO'S LAST DANCER is a celebration of the human spirit, aiming for the heart and hitting it every time.

| Nov 6, 2019

a sweeping story that has many ups and downs, with some pretty noticeable changes in tone and pace

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 2, 2013

| Original Score: B | Feb 18, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 31, 2011

Missteps prevent ballet drama from reaching great heights.

| Original Score: 3.5 | Dec 24, 2010

...somehow makes the extraordinary true story it's based on seem like common corn while succeeding in modest ways.

| Original Score: 86/100 | Oct 15, 2010

Woefully creaky and corny.

| Original Score: C- | Oct 12, 2010

The script is far too melodramatic, and the performances ... are hamfisted and overwrought.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 8, 2010

Mao's Last Dancer is such a profoundly moving story, it's hard not to get drawn in as Li must decide how much he's willing to sacrifice for his American dream.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 30, 2010

Debuting actor Chi Cao's athleticism is the movie's most striking element.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 29, 2010

Mao's Last Dancer is an epic tale of love and betrayal, triumph and heartbreak, that captures the real-life drama and emotion of one man's search for freedom. Well, it almost is.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 23, 2010

Whenever Beresford concerns himself with politics or, even worse, personal drama, Dancer falls limply to the ground.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 23, 2010

Bruce Beresford's biopic of Li Cunxin, the Chinese ballet dancer who defected while on a student visa in Houston in 1981, is sometimes the movie equivalent of Oscar Meyer cold cuts. But the dancing is pure caviar.

| Sep 21, 2010

The movie works, thanks in large part to Chi's performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 10, 2010

Feel-good movie about a Chinese dancer presses all the right buttons.

Full Review | Sep 10, 2010

Let the trumpets blare for artistic freedom of expression that is perfectly reflected in this uplifting and moving biopic.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 10, 2010