Step Up (11 August 2006)
directed by Anne Fletcher
starring Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Damaine Radcliff, De'SHawn Washington, Mario, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths, Josh Henderson, Tim Lacatena, Alyson Stoner, Heavy D, Deirdre Lovejoy, Carlyncia S. Peck
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MPAA rating: Studio: Touchstone Pictures, Summit Entertainment Script: Duane Adler, Melissa Rosenberg Music: Aaron Zigman Running time: 98 minutes Tags: ballet; Baltimore; dancing; Drama; high schools; Music; Romance Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for thematic elements, brief violence and innuendo
I wonder if producers will ever realize that an audience exists for an all-dance, no plot movie. I paid on-stage theater prices to see Stomp and Riverdance. These shows don't have any plot, just a lot of dancing. When you watch a movie like Step Up, you wish the producers had just left out the lame, connect-the-scenes plot and just given us twice as much dancing.
In Step Up, we have a typical poor boy meets rich girl story. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) goes to public high school and lives with foster parents. He spends his free time boosting cars, playing basketball, and freestyle hip-hop dancing. One night Tyler and his friends break into the Maryland School for the Arts (MSA) and vandalize the theater. Tyler gets caught and sentenced to 200 hours of community servie at the school. Rich girl Nora (Jenna Dewan) attends MSA and needs to prepare for her senior showcase production. Unfortunately her dance partner sprains an ankle, and she must audition new partners. Tyler watches the auditions from his ladder cleaning light fixtures, and When none of the candidates work out, Tyler volunteers to dance with Nora. In defiance of logic and out of desperation, Nora works with Tyler.
We watch predictable spats between the two. Tyler quits once when Nora tells him off for tardiness. He recants and resumes dancing with her, and in addition to dancing, they start to have a romantic relationship. Tyler quits again when her dance partner regains his health. Supposedly, Tyler starts seeing that he might actually benefit from attending a school like MSA, and he approaches the director (Rachel Griffiths) about attending the school. She tells him that she would like to have him attend the school, but she just doesn't think he demonstrates the true desire to attend, and that if he can show her his determination, she will admit him to the school.
I found the resolution completely predictable and implausible. Supposedly Tyler needs to demonstrate that he really wants to join the school. He must prove his determination, but he only shows up at the last minute before the senior showcase. He dances well, and the director admits him to the school. Showing up at the last minute doesn't convince me that he has made a life-altering change -- in spite of the motivational speech by his best friend (Damaine Radcliff) following the death of his friend's little brother (De'SHawn Washington).
At least the acting in the connect-the-dots plot doesn't suck. The most authentic performance comes from Alyson Stoner as Tyler's foster sister. She acts like she really cares for Tyler and enjoys his company. All the other actors seem like they have to stretch so far to present their parts that all the focus stays within themselves and never generates any chemistry with the other characters. So only the dancing and the music saves Step Up from total disaster, since you at least get to spend half the movie watching the characters do something at which they clearly have talent.I wonder if producers will ever realize that an audience exists for an all-dance, no plot movie. I paid on-stage theater prices to see Stomp and Riverdance. These shows don't have any plot, just a lot of dancing. When you watch a movie like Step Up, you wish the producers had just left out the lame, connect-the-scenes plot and just given us twice as much dancing.
