Movie Review: Step Up
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie contains references to
gang violence, racial unrest, and tragedies resulting from a
life of poverty. Social classes are prevalent (the "privileged"
and the "poor"), and lies and betrayal are part of the
storyline. Tyler comes from a low-income foster home, and his
life is all about parties, thugs, and criminal behavior,
including a run-in with a chop-shop owner. There's some
profanity and sexual innuendo.
Families can talk about what Tyler could have done differently in his life, rather than resorting to crime. How could Tyler have found different friends? How do you avoid "going along with the crowd" when you know they're in the wrong? How do the adults in Tyler's life affect him? Could they have done anything differently to help him? Is the school administrator right in showing her disapproval when he wants to dance? And what about Nora's mother? Is she right to want Nora to focus on college applications, or should she nurture her daughter's love of dance?
Common Sense Media Review
Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) is a guy from the wrong side of
the tracks, caught up in a life of partying, petty theft, and
reckless vandalism. When he gets caught trashing a private
performing arts school with some of his buddies, the judge
sentences him to community service -- cleaning the school for
several hours each day.
That's where he meets Nora (Jenna Dewan), a Type-A dance
student with a wannabe pop star boyfriend (Josh Henderson).
Jenna's working hard on the choreography for her "Senior
Showcase," a dance number she hopes will land her a job with a
dance company after graduation. But when her partner hurts his
ankle and can't practice, she needs someone to fill his place.
After auditioning a few guys who can't dance worth beans,
Nora's ready to give up hope.
In between mopping and cleaning, Tyler notices her
frustration and says he'll do it. No matter that he doesn't
know a pirouette from a glissade. She's seen his hip-hop moves
and knows he can dance. Besides that, she's desperate.
Here's where things get interesting. She teaches him
classical dance (and even makes him take classes with young
ballerinas), and he infuses some of his street moves into her
staid routine. And, of course, sparks fly and romance blooms.
We've seen all this before in
Dirty Dancing,
Take the Lead, and a zillion other dance movies. Guy
from the wrong side of the tracks connects with girl through
the power of dancing. She needs him to break into the next
phase of her dance life, and he needs her to lift him out of
his pathetic life. And it all culminates in The Big Dance
Number, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, the storyline is tired and cheesy, but what saves
this movie from cliché-dom are the fun dance numbers that
make YOU want to get up and dance. Jenna Dewan and Channing
Tatum have great chemistry (helped along by the fact that he
looks just like Wentworth Miller on
Prison
Break
). And the actors did all their own dance moves, which
lends an authenticity to the movie and saves us from having to
sit through body doubles and clunky cutaway scenes.
The best scene -- straight out of
Fame -- is where the kids go to a club, and all the
classical and hip-hop dancers meld together in one big
choreographed dance number (and yes, you'll be scratching your
head on how they all know exactly what to do). It's raw energy
at its best and makes you want to be part of the party.
People who enjoy this movie will like
Take
the Lead
,
Flashdance
,
Save
the Last Dance
and
Dirty
Dancing
.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
