“Step Up” is a dance-driven version of the classic teen date story about the poor boy with the troubled background and the rich girl who has everything but love. We don’t see any of those footprints that dance teachers arrange on the floor to show students where to step, but we certainly can see the handwriting on the wall in terms of where this movie is going.
Not that the target audience is likely to care. At a preview screening, they sat patiently through the mundane parts of the story to get to the dance segments, several of which were awarded with applause.
It’s not surprising the dances are the high points. Before Anne Fletcher directed the so-so comedy “The Pacifier,” she was a choreographer. And before writing this, Duane Adler wrote “Save the Last Dance,” which, in case the title isn’t enough of a hint, was another dance movie. Jenna Dewan (who also danced her way through “Take the Lead”) and Channing Tatum (“She’s the Man”) star. Not that Fletcher and Adler give them much to work with – they’re playing stereotypical characters in clichéd situations.
Nora is a senior at a performing arts high school in Baltimore. The biggest event of her year is the annual Showcase performance attended by representatives of the country’s major dance companies. They do much of their hiring based on what they see.
Nora’s mother thinks her love for dance is just a fad and has been waiting for it to pass. Now she’s forcing the issue: If Nora doesn’t get a job offer out of the Showcase, she will hang up her dancing shoes.
But Nora has a problem. The guy with whom she has been practicing for months has sprained his ankle. She needs to find a new partner, and fast.
Which brings us to Tyler. He’s a hip-hop dancer whose hobby is stealing cars. He and his buddies break into Nora’s school, vandalize a theatrical set, and Tyler gets caught. He’s ordered to work as a janitor at the school until he’s paid for the things he broke. He watches with bemused detachment as Nora desperately looks for another student who can keep up with her on the dance floor. He finally asks her if he can try. Gosh, do you think the two of them could ever overcome the differences of their backgrounds and artistic interests to find a common ground on and off the dance floor?
It’s as cheesy as it is predictable, but that’s what makes it a teen date movie. And, as these things go, it’s fairly tame content-wise. It takes Nora and Tyler most of the movie to work up the nerve to smooch.
The supporting players include R&B star Mario (who performs music), rap star Heavy D (who doesn’t perform) and the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Rachel Griffiths (who could have phoned in her performance as the art school’s glare-down-her-nose director).
When it’s all said and done, there’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before and most certainly will see again. But it’s executed as crisply as a dance-floor spin.
