Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Duane Adler, Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Damaine Radcliff, De’Shawn Washington, Mario, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths
Plot: Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with an up and coming dancer, Nora.
Tagline – Every second chance begins with a first step.
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Step Up starts when Tyler Gage (Tatum) finds his friends getting him into trouble, where they break in and destroy a fancy dance schools props, he gets his punishment, 200 hours of community service, where he must help out in the school.
When one of the students Nora (Dewan) needs a rehearsal partner, the only suitable person she can find is Tyler, who has the time to help, giving her a new perspective on life, and showing Tyler a more serious approach to everything.
Thoughts on Step Up
Characters – Tyler is a slacker minor criminal, causing problems with his friends most night, which sees him getting caught and forced into community service in a school that he was part of vandalizing. He ends up helping a dancer rehearse for her big performance, learning to try and take life more seriously, while still dealing with the rejection that has hindered his whole life. Nora is the dancer that is desperate to find herself rehearsal partner, this is her big chance in class and she learns more from Tyler to break out of the traditional style that has been left for her to follow. Mac and Skinny are brothers that are Tyler’s best friends who have gotten Tyler in trouble before, with Miles being one of the students that Tyler helps push himself to reach the next level of his career. With Lucy being the best friend of Nora, with her own problems.
Performances – Channing Tatum proves himself in a leading role here, showing he has the dancing skills to match the troubled outside world role he is taking on, with Jenna Dewan fitting the dancing with ease, showing us the conflict her character is going through. The supporting performances are strong through the film, getting the serious moments when they need to, along with moments of comic relief.
Story – The story here follows a directionless young man who finds himself doing community service in a dance school, where he finds motivation to fight for something when he teams up with one of the dancers in the school. This is a story that plays into the idea that people can change if they find their motivation in life, people can support people from different worlds, ones that people wouldn’t have expected to find them from either. It shows that if you don’t try, you might not even get a chance you deserve in life, no matter where you come from.
Crime/Romance – The crime side of the film shows us just where Tyler has come from, showing how he needs to get things back on track if he is ever going turn his life around, with the romance, showing us what could happen when you least expect it.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show the different backgrounds Tyler and Nora have come from.
Scene of the Movie – The performance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nora’s outside the school life isn’t as inspiring to change as Tyler’s.
Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining dance movie that shows us that you can learn to change by taking a chance from life.