How She Move

The Canadians get in on the teen-dance drama act with this tale of a bereaved girl with a knack for street moves. Ostensibly more gritty and less sugary than the likes of ‘Step Up’ and ‘Stomp the Yard’, this still relies on heavy-handed dialogue to explain the motives of its thin characters.
Ace student Raya Green (Rutina Wesley) is grieving the death of her sister when she’s compelled to return to her local school and keep her mother company.

Most of her old friends greet the high-achiever with scorn, but Raya must win them over when she realises her ticket out of there is a place in a big-bucks dance contest. Only crews can apply, so Raya gets stepping with the local teams, which is, predictably, where the film gets more entertaining.

This genre is crying out for a film that can offer credible characters and comedy, as well as tip-top dance moves. But with its corny domestic melodramas, ‘How She Move’ is stolidly like its predecessors: fantastic on the ’floor, hokey in the home