Life seems to be as good as it gets for bad boy Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum). He is a seventeen-year-old delinquent who grew up as a foster kid in the ghetto of Baltimore and has always quit when things get tough. Because his foster parents have problems of their own (his stepfather, for example, is an alcoholic), Tyler spends most of his time outside of his house.

Channing Tatum’s performance is very convincing. I have never personally experienced this type of atmosphere, but I have grown up around kids in this situation. I can say that Tyler follows a well-known stereotype for most foster kids or kids that live in the ghetto community. Tatum performed his role perfectly.

Tyler is usually found hanging out with his best friends Mac (Damaine Radcliffe) and Skinny Carter (De’Shawn Washington). They play basketball, go to late-night parties, and make money by stealing cars for a local chop-shop. One late night when the boys have nothing better to do, they bust into a neighborhood school, which turns out to be the Maryland School of the Arts. In the midst of trashing the school, Tyler gets caught, while Skinny and Mac manage to get away. As punishment, Tyler is sentenced to community service at the school.

The fact that Tyler is usually out of the house and unsupervised is a negative feature in the movie. As a result, he and his pals get into a lot of trouble. If parents/guardians stay involved in their kids' lives, they tend to stay out of trouble. In this case, we also see that Tyler has never had the motivation to fight for anything and has been taught to quit when the going gets tough. His parents do not support him in his pursual of anything.

While serving as a janitor during after-school hours, Tyler begins to observe the dance students as they practice. He is particularly intrigued by Nora (Jenna Dewan), the school’s most talented dancer.  When Nora’s dance partner breaks his leg, she is desperate for a substitute for her senior recital. Tyler volunteers, and, after observing him, she decides to let him try. While training for the show, chemistry develops between the two.

Jenna Dewan does a wonderful job in this movie. She had to learn all of the dance techniques from scratch when making this movie. As far as the dance moves are concerned, they do not contain anything unethical. While some brief portions of the dances resemble something from a hip-hop music video, the dances, on a whole, are well-choreographed.  Also, there are some outfits that Nora wears that seem like insufficient clothing, but they are typical outfits for a dancer to wear while practicing in the studio. 

Tyler considers how dancing could help him break out of life on the streets.  As his life begins to revolve around his rehearsals, he begins to forget about his roots with Mac and Skinny. After a tragedy with Skinny, he's torn between his loyalty to Mac and Skinny and his growing affection for Nora and for dancing. 

I found Damaine Radcliffe’s performance very realistic. He does a good job of portraying a young man who wants to be more than a burglar--who wants to become something, someone. Because of his status, he feels that he will never leave his life on the streets. De’Shawn Washington is not as convincing in his performace as the other main actors are. While his character is authentic, his personal portrayal is not as well-played.

The positive aspect found in this movie is that Tyler realizes that he has stop quitting and start believing that the unachievable is possible. While there are a few inappropriate references, Step Up has a great message of reaching beyong the status quo.

Reviewer’s Rating - 8/10

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