How She Move was shot on the cheap in 16-mm. film, and some of it is a little drab-looking, but it has energy and bravado.
How She Move (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:75
Fresh:50
Rotten:25
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: Despite a formulaic plot, the energetic and gritty How She Move is elevated by a commanding debut performance by Rutina Wesley.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some drug content, suggestive material and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jan 25, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $7,008,269
Synopsis: Much like STOMP THE YARD and STEP UP, HOW SHE MOVE showcases the hypnotic choreography and mind-blowing talent that make step dancing such a popular part of youth culture. In her film debut, Rutina... Much like STOMP THE YARD and STEP UP, HOW SHE MOVE showcases the hypnotic choreography and mind-blowing talent that make step dancing such a popular part of youth culture. In her film debut, Rutina Wesley portrays Raya Green, a high school student hailing from the projects. Her intelligence and drive bring her to a prestigious private school, but she is forced back home after her sister's death from a drug addiction soaks up the last of Raya's tuition fund. With her parents working round the clock to make ends meet, Raya finds herself gravitating to her former friends from the neighborhood. She rekindles her passion for dancing, and gets involved with the local step dancing teams as they compete their way toward big money prizes. Realizing this is a second shot out of the projects, she gives dancing everything: all the intensity, fear, and pride she has welled up inside her. HOW SHE MOVE effectively deals with some sensitive issues--drugs, poverty, and death--through the perspective of urban kids on the brink of adulthood. Though it's easy to get caught up in the dancing and fierce competition, other heartfelt messages trickle through as well, including the importance of family, community and culture. With an impressive soundtrack and fantastic acting performances, HOW SHE MOVE will truly entertain as well as inspire. [More]
Starring: Rutina Wesley, Brennan Gademans, Cle Bennett, Tre Armstrong
Starring: Rutina Wesley, Brennan Gademans, Cle Bennett, Tre Armstrong, Kevin Duhaney, Shawn Desman, Dwain Murphy, Keyshia Cole, De Ray Davis
Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid
Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid
Screenwriter: Annmarie Morais
Producer: Jennifer Kawaja, Julia Sereny, Brent Barclay
Composer: Andrew Lockington
Studio: Paramount Vantage
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Reviews for How She Move
In its re-edit, Paramount tries to hide the cultural specificity that makes the movie interesting beneath generic 'urban' camouflage.
The thin and predictable plot benefits from likable performances by Wesley, Armstrong, and the rest of the cast, from some distinctive detail about the Caribbean immigrant population and their community, and from some smokin' dance moves.
As formula films go, How She Move achieves exactly what it sets out to do.
A dance movie that tries to push beyond the formula. In that sense, it's certainly a step up.
Carefully mastered steps are combined with an outrageous physicality to create movement that is part tap, rhythmic gymnastics, military precision and even pratfall comedy. The short film, though, detrimentally shoehorns the plot cliche between the dance.
As we replay last year's step-dance hit Stomp the Yard, the ostensible message about working hard in school gets stomped out of the yard.
There's not much that's surprising in How She Move, but watching how she moves is a pleasure.
How She Move isn't a great film or even a terribly well-made film, but it has its moments and, of course, it has the ending it's promised all along.
The dance scenes in How She Move are so vibrant and infectious that they glide the movie past its script problems.
Most of the energy lost through a leaky narrative pours back in the dance sequences, choreographed by Hi Hat, presented competently by director Ian Iqbal Rashid, working with what is obviously a restricted budget.
Even if the setting is novel and the leads seem authentic, How She Move is all too content to step down a well-worn path.
The strong acting, spectacular dance routines and culturally specific details in How She Move turn clichés into catharsis.
How She Move gets it right in every dance sequence, but stumbles badly whenever the characters step offstage (or a car hood, or the sidewalk, or wherever they happen to be practicing).
The story leans into cliché at times and at other times doesn't quite make sense, but there's an energy about How She Move that makes it work regardless.
Honestly, this is a carbon copy of every other 'gotta dance' flick ever made, down to the cheesy emcees who host the big dance-off (it's in Detroit!) and the wannabe heart-tugging conclusion.
Though it may sound like it, How She Move is not just another dance-off flick.
The plot is serviceable enough, but it's really just an excuse to showcase some remarkably original choreography and athletic dancing.
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