Good concept, poorly executed.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Channing Tatum pulls out all of the stops playing the world's oldest living high school senior and dance prodigy in Step Up. Tyler (Tatum)is the pretty white boy living in a rough,black Baltimore neighborhood. When he's not car jacking with his home boys, he is busy popping moves and busting bad ass dance routines on the b ball court. Then one night, after having a gun pulled on him at a party, Tyler and crew break in to the oddly located Maryland Academy of the Arts. The boys proceed to crap all over the drama departments Caligula set when they get busted by a rent a cop.Tyler takes the fall, letting his buddies make a run for it, he ends up in court facing serious court ordered community service at, you guessed it, the Maryland Academy of the Arts.We also learn that our boy Tyler has a lengthy police record and is the world's oldest foster child. Anyway, back at the school, Tyler is amazed when he arrives and sees all of these other kids pursuing their dreams and actually being productive members of society.Given the job as mop boy, he mumbles his way through the first few days of his service when, you guessed it, he sees the school's top female dancer and its love at first site.It's at this point you can turn off the movie and imagine the remaining time in your head. Boy and girl end up dance partners, montage, montage, montage, no one understands, they don't communicate, he learns to control his dancing while she becomes more of a free spirit. Her mom thinks Tyler is white trash. His foster parents could give a crap. His friends freak when they find out he is at school dancing in tights instead of carjacking with them, oh the humanity!There is also this second tier romance between a DJ from the school and star dancer's best friend, but I digress. In the end Tyler and star dancer pop and lock their way to winning the schools big talent showcase, he of course gets accepted into the school and star dancer gets her bring break with a dance troupe! This movie rips off everything from every dance movie ever made before it. Throw in some embarrassing fashions, dialogue and dance numbers and you have Body Rock, Breakin and Flashdance all rolled into one phoned in production.

What we have here, is a cliché-ridden school of the arts flick. I am moved to write this review while it is only halfway through. Perhaps I'll change my opinion by the time it ends. A story about a street smart, sort of, break dancer (Channing Tatum), a budding ballet student(Jenna Dewan Tatum), and assorted family and plot-filling friends. The boy happens to be sentenced to janitorial community service at the school after having broken in and vandalized the building with his buddies. The dancer suddenly is in need of a practice partner and (guess what?) our janitor just happens to take on the job. The plot is annoyingly formulaic. Dancer and dude fall in love. Mother disapproves. For tears, there is a random death that goes nowhere in the story line. Well, the two protagonists wind up together forever in the film and in real life, as they actually met and fell in love on the set which is, perhaps, the most interesting part of this tale. OK, it's over and I haven't changed my mind. Watching it was a waste of time. Now, what is the worst thing about this dance production? Unlike, "Fame," "Saturday Night Fever," "Flash Dance," etc., nobody in the film can actually dance!

Okay, so now I get what all the fuss is over Channing Tatum. Holy yum! He is perfect for this role, in a predictable, fairly dumb, yet also utterly addictive movie.Channing plays Tyler Gage, a troublemaker and street dancer living with his foster parents, who after vandalizing an elite performing arts school gets the opportunity of a lifetime in the form of community service (janitorial duties) at the school. He then gets "discovered" dancing in the parking lot by ballet dancer Nora Clark who just happens to need a new partner and some fresh choreography. In turn this could gain Tyler the chance to earn a scholarship.The story here isn't super original but the dance sequences (and music) is really good, and watching Channing move in those loose fitting jeans is all kinds of good. The romance and side stories also sucked me right in. Ultimately I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. 03.13

Following on from Save the Last Dance and a few other dance movies before, this recognisable title was the next one I tried, from choreographer turned director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, The Proposal). Basically Tyler Gage (She's the Man's Channing Tatum) lives with his foster parents in the lower class African American neighbourhood of Baltimore, he is is a talented street dancer but also a troublemaker with his friends Mac Carter (Damaine Radcliff) and his little brother Skinny Carter (De'Shawn Washington). Having fun partying and stealing cars, they one night break into Maryland School of Arts committing vandalism on the stage with all the props and equipment, and Tyler is the one caught and sentenced to 200 hours community service. Under the watch of Director Gordon (Rachel Griffiths) he is assigned to work as a janitor in the school cleaning floors and windows, and picking up the litter. He has been lightly distracted in his work seeing the dance classes, and particularly the talent of beautiful ballet student Nora Clark (Take the Lead's Jenna Dewan), who is already seeing someone. She oversees him doing his street dancing outside, and when her original partner Andrew (Tim Lacatena) has a strain, Tyler offers to take his place and follow her choreography. As the practising continues Tyler not only suggests new street dance style moves into the routine that will be judged, but he and Nora are getting very close. Tyler has been known to start things and give up after just a short time, and of course this is what happens when for almost no reason at all he stops practising with Nora, leaving her alone. She does try and get him back, and there is a small vice versa situation, it is after the Boyz n the Hood style shooting and death of Skinny Carter that Tyler has to decide to help Nora with her judged performance and maybe get a place in the dance school himself. In the end the final performance with Tyler and Nora goes brilliantly, they both gain high praise and interest from the judges and school heads, and obviously they are happy together. Also starring singer Mario as Miles Darby, Drew Sidora as Lucy Avila, Heavy D as Omar and Josh Henderson as Brett Dolan. Tatum and Dewan make a good couple, but to be honest the only highlight are all the well choreographed street dance sequences, not a bad romantic dance drama. Okay!