Review | LEAP!

“A Lovely and Refreshingly Breezy Adventure with an Infectious Soundtrack.”
— Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

NEVER STOP REACHING FOR YOUR DREAMS

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old orphan Félicie (Fanning) has one dream — to go to Paris and become a dancer. Her best friend, Victor (Wolff), an imaginative, exuberant boy with a passion for creating, has a dream of his own — to become a famous inventor. In a leap of faith, Victor and Félicie leave their orphanage in pursuit of their passions.

But there’s a catch: Félicie must pretend to be the child of a wealthy family in order to gain admittance to the prestigious and competitive Opera Ballet School in Paris. And with no professional dance training, she quickly learns that talent alone is not enough to overcome the ruthless, conniving attitudes of her fellow classmates, led by the devious Camille Le Haut (Ziegler).

Determined to succeed, Félicie finds her mentor in the tough and mysterious school custodian, Odette (Jepsen), who, along with Victor’s encouraging friendship, help her reach for the stars.

Review

• RATED PG
• RECOMMENDED AGE: 6+

Leap! is definitely not a movie I would have picked out to watch myself but I kind of fell in love with it. The story was one that I felt we have seen a dozen times over – an orphan with a dream. The story centers on Félicie and Victor chasing their dreams in Paris. Félicie has to pretend to be from a wealthy family to get into a fancy ballet school where she comes up against some obstacles but ultimately claims top spot in a production.

The story is one of survival and achieving your dreams no matter what, so with that, there are lots of twists and turns. It’s done well and the animation is nice to look at. It’s a good family film, and one I feel any child with an affinity for ballet and or dance would love.