Ross v Ross

In the words of David Bowie and Chris Rea, let’s dance. But there are no dance partners in this Top Five – here we count down the moments when Hollywood’s finest men followed Billy Idol’s advice and went dancing with themselves…

Gene Kelly doesn’t feature on this list. Let’s get that out of the way right from the start. You can feel angry now rather than feel it after scrolling down the page and discovering he’s been replaced by something you think is totally lame. I like his slick moves on roller skates and with an umbrella, but you know what: I don’t love them. They’re too smooth, too polished, too perfect. I like my solo dancing heroes because of their imperfections, or else this list would be made up of Patrick Swayze and Gregory Hines. Yes, they have undoubted talent, but there is something about the five hoofers below that just get me at a gut-level. Even if some of them have no rhythm whatsoever. Tell me your favourite male solo dance moments in the comments section below.

5. Jim Carrey (The Mask)

Watch the Rubber-faced Funnyman™ lead the police on a merry dance in this number. Had I not included this sequence in the list Ross McD would not have been a happy camper, but I can report that we actually agree on this one. In a film packed with great routines, the Cuban Pete skit still manages to stand out. Simply because it’s so much fun.

4. Mel Gibson (What Women Want)

They can take our land… but they can never take… MY DANCE MOVES! Who knew Mad Max could shuffle like this? If Martin Riggs ever saw this he’d probably jump off a building. But who cares? Mel is a natural mover, using a hat stand and a hat to the ironic sounds of Sinatra’s I Won’t Dance. You will dance, Mel Gibson, and you will dance very entertainingly indeed. This is what women want.

3. Hugh Grant (Love Actually)

Okay, so calling this ‘dancing’ is a little like calling Vince Vaughn an ‘actor’, but that doesn’t stop it being an immensely enjoyable scene. Grant is the king of awkward comedy and here he proves why.

2. Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite)

No matter what he does for the rest of his career, this is the moment Jon Heder will be remembered for. The brilliance of this scene is that it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the movie. It also draws from the secret fantasy within all of us of wowing the entire school in the assembly hall. I like your dance moves, Napoleon, they’re real big.

1. Kevin Kline (In & Out)

What a great scene this is. Not many actors have the comic timing to pull this sequence off, so we should be thankful that the often underrated Kevin Kline is playing the closet gay guy attempting to prove his masculinity to himself. Thankfully, he fails spectacularly, allowing him to bust a move like it’s nobody’s business. Only Kline could take a simple platform of a man and a talking tape and make it golden. The tape’s frantic pleas as Kline gets down are priceless: ‘Think about John Wayne! Arnold Schwarzenegger! Arnold doesn’t dance. He can barely walk!’ That may be true, but Kevin Kline sure can dance…

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE MALE SOLO DANCE ROUTINES?

TOP FIVES ARCHIVE

This entry was posted on February 8, 2010 at 12:10 pm and is filed under TOP FIVES with tags Dance, Gene Kelly, Hugh Grant, Jim Carrey, Mel Gibson, Movies, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.