Bootmen

A young Australian steelworker (Adam Garcia) finds an artistic outlet in tap dancing. When the local steel mill is closed down, he tries to organize a dance recital as a fund-raiser for the laid-off workers. Director/choreographer Dein Perry, working from a script by Steve Worland, tries to revive the hey-kids-let’s-put-on-a-show musical, infusing the old clichés with blue-collar grit. Perry seems to want to remove the “stigma” of effeminacy from male dancers, but putting his troupe in industrial boots, cutoff jeans and sweaty tank tops emphasizes rather than downplays the gay subtext. The climactic show is elaborate in a heavy-metal, Busby Berkeley way, but the editing jangles the rhythm of the dancing—we never get time to enjoy a move before being yanked off to view it from another angle.