Sugiyama doesn't dance the Latin dances and is replaced by Tomio because it would be too difficult for him to learn them in such a short space of time. This is one of the least convincing parts of the American version because the makers had to have a hot, steamy tango, danced by Gere as John Clark and Lopez as Paulina. Does that make any sense? Sugiyama carried himself with almost a formal air when he danced, seeming too stiff for the Latin dances. Yet the Gere character can dance tango? On the DVD, the extras include the original beginning, which actually makes more sense, and interviews with all the principals about how they felt learning to dance. Ironically, these interviews catch the true spirit lacking in the movie.
Why do people dance? For the sheer please of learning a discipline and being able to move gracefully and be envied by other people. They dance for the joy of achieving something and doing it well. People dance competitively for the chance to shine outside of their mundane lives. Sugiyama wasn't a high-powered lawyer working in an expensive building. He was someone who had risen to a certain level in his company, but was boxed into common expectations who found a chance to express himself by following a whim.
This is the least convincing aspect of the American version — why John would take lessons without his wife, without his daughter? He's a popular, well-spoken lawyer. Where Sugiyama was stiff though elegant, he couldn't master the sensuous hip movements necessary for the Latin dances, John can get some hip action going. And he can lead tango.
The American version also adds characters of convenience. Did we really need for John Clark to have a son? Yes, for the ephiphany scene when a young girl his son's age asks him if he wants to dance. Where is the son later? Why is his new girlfriend introduced into the movie? What happens to them? No idea. Do we see anyone dance tango at the competition? No, we don't. When we later see Paulina practicing, is she practicing ballroom? No, she isn't.
A similar character, working a lower position in the same field found exuberant joy in becoming a producer. Played by Matthew Broderick in Mel Brook's 2005 musical film version of his 1967 movie by the same name, The Producers. Broderick's Leo Bloom just as Gene Wilder's Bloom, is an accountant, stiffled by the mundane routine of his job. Another similar American character would be James Thurber's Walter Mitty. The 1947 movie version with Danny Kaye, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, didn't please Thurber, but was also a song and dance feature like the 2005 The Producers.
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