Rating: PG-13
Movie Release Date: January 12, 2001
DVD Release Date: June 19, 2001
Plot 411: When her mother dies, Sarah moves to Chicago's inner city to live with her astranged dad
Review: After failing her ballet audition for Juilliard, Sarah (Julia Stiles) discovers the reason her mother was late was because she died in a car accident. After this blow, Sarah decides to give up dancing and must move to Chicago to live with her father. She enrolls in a predominantly black high school in a gritty area of town. Despite being a fish out of water, she is soon befriended by Chenille (Kerry Washington). Sarah also meets a wise-cracking boy named Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), who turns out to be Chenille's brother. When Sarah goes to a club called Stepps, she encounters hip hop for the first time and realizes that there is more to dance than her classical education has taught her. She also encounters Derek's ex-girlfriend Nikki (Bianca Lawson) and the drama begins. Nikki is trying to win Derek back and sees Sarah as a threat. However, as Derek teaches Sarah hip hop dancing, they grow closer and fall in love. When Derek and is friend Malakai (Fredro Starr) are targets of a drive-by shooting, Malakai wants to take revenge. Derek is torn between helping his friend and looking toward his future. When this movie came out, I was thoroughly entralled by it like most teens. It had a good love story, great music and dancing, action and drama. It felt as though the underdog would prevail despite all obstacles. Now that I'm older, I can see it for what it is. It's a fairly average movie of this type and kind of predictable. I think it did a good job at appealing to its demographic when it was released but don't think it is anything special. The idea that opposites attract is definitely not new and have already been captured on film in Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, Dirty Dancing or Step Up.
Watch It: For a notable performance by Julia Stiles, who was just breaking out at that time.
Movie Release Date: January 12, 2001
DVD Release Date: June 19, 2001
Plot 411: When her mother dies, Sarah moves to Chicago's inner city to live with her astranged dad
Review: After failing her ballet audition for Juilliard, Sarah (Julia Stiles) discovers the reason her mother was late was because she died in a car accident. After this blow, Sarah decides to give up dancing and must move to Chicago to live with her father. She enrolls in a predominantly black high school in a gritty area of town. Despite being a fish out of water, she is soon befriended by Chenille (Kerry Washington). Sarah also meets a wise-cracking boy named Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), who turns out to be Chenille's brother. When Sarah goes to a club called Stepps, she encounters hip hop for the first time and realizes that there is more to dance than her classical education has taught her. She also encounters Derek's ex-girlfriend Nikki (Bianca Lawson) and the drama begins. Nikki is trying to win Derek back and sees Sarah as a threat. However, as Derek teaches Sarah hip hop dancing, they grow closer and fall in love. When Derek and is friend Malakai (Fredro Starr) are targets of a drive-by shooting, Malakai wants to take revenge. Derek is torn between helping his friend and looking toward his future. When this movie came out, I was thoroughly entralled by it like most teens. It had a good love story, great music and dancing, action and drama. It felt as though the underdog would prevail despite all obstacles. Now that I'm older, I can see it for what it is. It's a fairly average movie of this type and kind of predictable. I think it did a good job at appealing to its demographic when it was released but don't think it is anything special. The idea that opposites attract is definitely not new and have already been captured on film in Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, Dirty Dancing or Step Up.
Watch It: For a notable performance by Julia Stiles, who was just breaking out at that time.
Skip It: In favor of West Side Story, which contains much of the same plot points.
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