DVD Review: How She Move
Written by: Kassidy at 8:47 am
Writer: Annmarie Morais
Director: Ian Igbal Rashid
Cast: Tre Armstrong, Boyd Banks, Cle Bennett, Ardon Bess, Conrad Coates, Keyshia Cole
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: April 29, 2008
You know, I liked Save the Last Dance. It was one of the first movies to start the dance craze in movies. From there, the less likable Honey, Step Up, the crappy sequel Step Up 2: The Streets and other movies were released. They were released to the point where any mention of another dance themed movie was met with groans, not only by myself and fellow reviewers, but by the general public who were getting tired of the same sub-standard story being rehashed over and over again.
I fully admit that I went into this movie prepared to hate it. I’d seen my fill of semi-good dancing with less than stellar acting and a recycled plot. What I wasn’t prepared for was the freshness of How She Move. The dancing, the acting and the plot were all excellent. While How She Move might be a dance movie, it isn’t the same ol’ dance movie you expect to watch time and again as each one is produced. This movie has more than just rhythm. It has spirit!
Release Information:
How She Move made its film debut at the Sundance Film festival on January 23, 2007. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until January 25, 2008 when the film was able to make its big screen debut. The film, which was distributed by Paramount, has received mostly good reviews and is deemed one of the better dance movies out there.
Paramount has decided to release How She Move. It was made available on April 29, 2008. It can be purchased at your local retailer such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy or it can be purchased online at the store’s site. It can also be purchased online at Amazon where it is available for $19.99.
The How She Move Plot
While this story is similar to the other dance movies (a down and out girl heads into an urban neighborhood where she gets in to dance to ease her woes) there are a few original and nice twists. The power here isn’t in the originality of the story. If that were the case, once you saw one dance movie you’d see them all. The strength for How She Move is in the storytelling and the character development. You get to the point where you actually care about the characters, especially the protagonist of the story, Raya (Rutina Wesley).
After Raya’s sister dies of drug addiction, the family faces financial problems that lead to Raya being unable to continue going to school at the Private School she attends. Instead, this aspiring doctor will have to return to the urban neighborhood where she grew up. Once she finds out that she can make money through step-dancing, she quickly decides that joining in on a step-dance competition might be the way to fund her education.
Raya likes the captain of one of the step dancing teams, JSJ Crew. This and her skills as a step dancer allow her to become a member of the group. She seems to have some sort of connection with the captain, Bishop (Dwain Murphy). With a $50,000 prize being awarded in the competition, this is just the money that Raya needs to ensure she has the kind of future she wants. However, being a member of JSJ Crew is easier said than done and Raya must come to the point where she must decide between staying with the team, or choose to form one of her own.
While this movie has elements of past films of the same caliber, the acting is much better than previous dance film releases. Julliard alumnus Rutina Wesley shows us why she was a Julliard student as the passionate, driven Raya. She truly made this movie. Not only was Rutina good, but the supporting cast did an impressive job in their respective roles. This story, while similar to others didn’t feel old. It felt fresh, new and incredibly entertaining!
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
With a budget of $5 million, How She Move was shot on a Super 16mm camera. This looks and feels more independent than it is. When Paramount came into the picture, the company provided $2 million more to re-shoot some of the dance sequences. While the anamorphic widescreen picture at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio looks decent, the desaturated colors bespeak of the small budget for the movie. There are minimal visual errors though so watching this movie is indeed a pleasurable experience.
The sound for How She Move is supported by a movie soundtrack that was enhanced and redone by the money Paramount supplied. The sound comes through clearly and the beats sound quite good. I could find myself dancing to them! The music is incredibly important to this movie, which is why it is good that there is a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Mix. There is also a Dolby Digital Spanish track. Subtitles are available in both English and Spanish.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
There are actually a few nice bonuses included on the How She Move DVD. The first is a featurette entitled, “The Characters of How She Move.” This featuette, which is 13 minutes long, displays the actors who portray the characters in the movie. The actors talk about their specific characters and you get to learn a bit more about each of the characters portrayed in the movie.
The second featurette on the DVD is 9 minutes long. It is called “From Rehearsal to Film”. This looks at the cast as they practice their dance sequences. The featurette focuses on the intricately crafted choreographed routines established by the choreographer for the movie, Hi Hat. From rehearsal to film, you’ll go behind the scenes to see what it takes to make the dance sequences come to life on film.
The third featurette on the How She Move DVD is called “Telling Her Story”. This featurette runs for ten minutes. It is about the transformation of this movie from a documentary into the low budget movie it became. It looks not only at the film’s production, step dancing and the overall storytelling that makes this film so much better than similar predecessors.
The final bonuses are theatrical trailers. There is a trailer for How She Move as well as trailers for Cloverfield, Blackout, Norbit, The Duchess, Defiance and Son of Rambow.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
I expected very little from How She Move. With such low expectations I was pleasantly surprised by how good this movie was. While it isn’t the most original story and it’s not the best film out there, fans of heartfelt movies and those who like to see people that can really dance are going to love How She Move. While some might find this a bit too cliché for their tastes, this is one film you should rent before you purchase.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: How She Move, DVD Review, Paramount, Sundance Film Festival, step dance, film, Canadian, Rutina Wesley
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Written by Kassidy - Visit Website
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Kassidy received her degree in Journalism in 2002. She lives in the Midwest with her husband of six years, Jason, and their two little girls, Madison (5) and Emma (2.5), with one (a boy) on the way. The couple is very excited to welcome their first son next January. Passions in life for Kassidy include painting, scrapbooking, writing, being a Mommy, watching romantic comedies, and dancing.
