This is one of the most delightful films we have seen in a long time. The story is warm, and meaningful, with excellent character development, plot, acting, dancing, and music. And it teaches morals and ethics, to boot.Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) is a down and out, teenage foster kid, stuck in a family with a harried foster mom, struggling to support the family; a beer guzzling, TV-addicted, couch potato "dad" and two younger foster siblings, just as lost as he is. He hangs in his run down Baltimore neighborhood with Mac Carter (Damaine Radcliff) and his little brother Skinny (De'Shawn Washington), whose mother works at night, which is when the boys routinely get into trouble.
Tyler and Mac regularly jack cars and sell them at the local chop shop. On Saturday nights, they drop in at a neighborhood night club, populated by the occasional gunslinger, but with the best break dancing anywhere. And Tyler is a natural.
One weekend night, after being threatened with a gun and fleeing the club, Tyler, Mac and Skinny run through the streets, kicking cans and carelessly tossing refuse. Then one of them accidentally hits the window at the Maryland School of the Arts. Skinny decides to smash the window completely, and before long, the boys are in. They ogle the halls and showcases until Tyler finds the auditorium and heads for the stage, awed by the costumes, sets and props, which which the boys are soon dancing--and smashing.
Tyler takes the rap for his friends, who flee into the night. Sentenced to 200 hours of community service, he at first wants nothing more than to finish his time, mopping floors, changing lights and collecting trash.
But while making repairs on a ladder one afternoon, he witnesses a series of inept male dancers trying out as the partner for Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan). They trip, they fall, they drop her. They stink. She goes through them all, and then wonders what to do. She needs a stand in until her regular partner recovers from his sprained ankle. Tyler offers to catch her. She hesitates, but when he convinces her that he's serious, she is surprised to see that he not only can catch her--but do it gracefully.
An appeal to school director Gordon (Rachel Griffiths) wins her hesitant support for Tyler to temporarily take the role. Over the next few weeks, he helps her to rework the piece, jazzing it up, and adding several more dancers he has recruited from around the school. He also convinces her to let her talented friend Miles Darby (Mario), revise the music, after Nora's erstwhile boyfriend Brett Dolan (Josh Henderson) drops Miles from his group to sign a New York recording contract.
There is some really original music here, some great dancing, and a wonderful plot, emphasizing the importance of friendships. It's a heartwarming story of success in the face of adversity, and tragedy. A great family film that teens especially will love.
--Alyssa A. Lappen
That's set around a dance
A guy who grew up the hard way
And gets a second chance
He's basically a smart-mouthed punk
Just headed for disaster
By picking fights and boosting cars
He's gonna get there faster
While cleaning up at the Art School
He notices this girl
As luck would have it, he's the man
She needs to help her twirl
She's a driven dancing queen
Who needs to get it right
On and off and off and on
They practice, feud and fight
I'm sure you've guessed how this one ends
With dancing and romance
But something in it strikes a chord
It's worth more than a glance
Amanda Richards, January 20, 2007 I expected good things from this movie, and i was completely blown away! Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan are spectacular dancers! Channing Tatum is also a feast for the eyes, but we knew that after She's the Man. The movie had a great plot and a beautiful love story. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did and I highly suggest going to see it!
Read Best Reviews of Step Up (2006) Here
Here it is. My favorite movie star is Ginger Rogers. Anybody seen a Rogers & Astaire movie? Their films go like this...boy meets girl, boy dances with girl, boy loses girl, boy dances with girl (again), boy gets girl. Put all that in a movie with slammin' beats, an ambitious dance student (Jenna Dewan) and a freak at freestyle street dance (Channing Tatum) and you got "Step Up". You'll enjoy it. Like I did.I thought this film was decent. I will agree with some of the complaints I've seen about the acting in the movie. The script is filled with every cliché under the sun, and just when you thought that something unpredictable might happen, it doesn't. Right from the beginning, when a character's younger brother is introduced, I said to myself, "Please don't make him be the lesson learned". Let's just say that every teen romance and ghetto flick plot line is rehashed to the exact detail, without a whiff of originality.Channing Tatum performance was okay and not bad for someone who had worked for the Public Defender's Office specifically in juvenile court and plays his role as Tyler knowingly. In this movie he seems so insecure with himself until he hits the dance floor. At that moment he becomes the most confident person in the room because he has some serious skills. Nora (Jenna Darwin) just seems like your typical ballerina princess until she finally opens up about her life. The story is interesting enough to keep you in your seat until another dance scene. But, although the acting wasn't top notch I will say that the movie had an incredible moral lesson/theme if you will--about different 'worlds' coming together and how the view issues in life so differently. It also spends a lot of time on understanding differences in daily life and issues between both 'worlds.' In addition to this it teaches us about choices and accountability for our action.
I also did enjoy the booming soundtrack. This may be the first film that would work better as a 90 minute music video, and save us from either uninspired dialogue, or mis-delivered dialogue. Sadly, even the dancing doesn't compare to previous dance films like "Center Stage", "You Got Served", and probably "Honey" but that is even stretching it. At any rate, it's one of those movies that you have to see for yourself and step into.
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