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Review #368 of 365
Movie Review of Stomp the Yard (2006) [PG-13] 115 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 15 January 2007
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
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Directed by: Sylvain White (Quiet)
Screenplay by: Robert Adetuyi (Code Name: The Cleaner) based on a screenplay by Gregory Anderson (Trois 3: The Escort)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Columbus Short (Accepted) • Meagan Good (Waist Deep) • Ne-Yo (Save the Last Dance 2) • Darrin Dewitt Henson (The Last Stand) • Brian J. White (DOA: Dead or Alive) • Laz Alonso (The Last Stand) • Valarie Pettiford ("Half & Half") • Jermaine Williams (Fat Albert) • Allan Louis ("Boston Legal") • Harry J. Lennix ("Commander in Chief") • Chris Brown ("The O.C.") • Oliver Ryan Best (debut) • Richmond Duain Martyn (Camp D.O.A.) • Justin Hires (The Gospel) • Michael Ngaujah (A Lesson Before Dying)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
In some ways an honest tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (released on MLK Jr. Day weekend – 12-15 January 2007, bears one of his quotations on character and education at the end, features photos of him and Coretta Scott King in the instrumental scene, and tells the story of a young man working to overcome cultural and societal barriers entrenched to prevent his eventual success), Stomp the Yard steps forward with good intentions with mixed, predictable results. The basic elements of the story are ones told numerous times before with slightly new circumstances. DJ (Columbus Short) and his brother are part of a hip-hop dance battle team in Los Angeles. The film begins with an incredibly loud and fearsome battle between two rival groups for a large pile of prize money. DJ pushes his group to go for the gold and ends up angering the rival leader who feels he's been played. After the battle, predictably, he ambushes DJ's team and DJ's brother ends up shot to death in the end. Next we see the forlorn DJ on a 72-hour train ride to Atlanta where his Uncle Nate (Harry J. Lennix) and Aunt Jackie (Valarie Pettiford) have agreed to take care of him as he enrolls in the fictional Truth University. While they offer him every comfort, it's clear he doesn't feel he fits in. Nonetheless, some tough talk about him being his mother's only thing left in the world and not letting him mess that up from Uncle Nate gets him into the registration line for classes. Turns out though, that it's April Palmer (Meagan Good), daughter of the Provost of the university Dr. Palmer (Allan Louis) that catches his attention and holds him in place. At Truth University, it's not the football players that rule the roost, it's the Stepping fraternity brothers. The two main rivals have been at it for decades; and, for the last seven years, the brothers of Mu Gamma have beaten the Theta Nu Theta and won the national championships held each year in Atlanta. As one might predict, at first, DJ wants nothing to do with Stepping, but his life becomes connected to it when he learns that April's boyfriend, Zeke (Laz Alonso) is the one of the best of the Mu Gamma steppers. Several altercations between him and Zeke lead him to pledge the rival fraternity led by Sylvester (Brian J. White), but only after April, who has not-so-coincidentally become his history tutor, convinces him that the fraternities at Truth University are about so much more than Stepping. She recommends a trip to Heritage Hall to find out more. He follows her every word and visits the hall where a museum of fraternity members has been erected. Unfortunately, young people seeing this part of the film may get the false impression that the famous figures and heroes featured were all graduates of Truth University or fraternity / sorority members which is simply not true. Reconciliation between this and the intention of the scene must be left up to each individual. As DJ's relationship with April grows, so does Zeke's jealousy. He will stop at nothing to bring DJ down. In one predictable scene after another, DJ shows him up, until, finally, Zeke discovers DJ's previous record for assault during an altercation that led to the death of his brother, something that wasn't put exactly that way on his application to Truth. An ethics board suspends him just before the National Stepping Championships. All the while, of course, Dr. Palmer wants someone better for his daughter, and a long history of bad blood between Palmer and DJ's Aunt Jackie resurfaces.
"… well-meaning and mostly well-executed…inevitable predictability…decreases the impact of the film overall…"
One of the elaborate and bright spots of the film, as one would hope, is the National Championship event itself. The shows the fraternities put on are slightly short of a major production with lights, sound, and appropriately themed effects. Unfortunately, the outcome is far too predictable right down to the final move that must be landed to win the competition. And, it is this certain, inevitable predictability that decreases the impact of the film overall. The cast including some veterans and newcomers did an outstanding job with mostly two-dimensional characters. Perhaps too much focus was given to the incessant step practicing which was then hard to see how it amounted to the performances delivered at the nationals. Director Sylvain White is relatively new to feature length productions and probably learned a great deal about what happens to character growth and development when one approaches the editing from a music video perspective. Too many cuts back and forth and back and forth do not help weave a coherent long-term picture. Meanwhile, Robert Adetuyi who has the interesting honor of being the only screenwriter with two scripts for major motion pictures released in January 2007 (the other being Code Name: The Cleaner), may have a lot of people scratching their heads as well. Certainly, Stomp the Yard is the better of the two. Clearly, some great intentions were put into this film. There is a good message. There is proof that heart and soul will win out over money and might. People who work hard can overcome the roadblocks of society. Young people today, especially, need to know there are alternatives, perhaps in other regions of the country, for them, if only they expand their horizons beyond their own neighborhoods. There is a way to build personal pride beyond gold chains of rap artists or basketball players. Stepping is a truly unique and amazing art form that blends dance and beat music to help mold the morale of a group of people. Teaching more about this art form might be singled out as the real strength of the film. Overall, the picture is well-meaning and mostly well-executed. The chief deficiency is the predictability and derivative nature of the other aspects of the film's plot.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Stomp the Yard (2007)
Cast Members
Columbus Short
• Meagan Good • Ne-Yo Darrin Dewitt Henson
• Brian J. White • Laz AlonsoValarie Pettiford
• Jermaine Williams • Allan LouisHarry J. Lennix
• Chris Brown • Oliver Ryan BestRichmond Duain Martyn
• Justin Hires • Michael Ngaujah Director
Sylvain White
Screenwriter
Robert Adetuyi
Stomp the Yard (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Perhaps an honest attempt to pay tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stomp the Yard steps forward with good intentions but with mixed results. Beginning with a fearsome battle dance between rival, L.A. teams resulting in the death of DJ's (Columbus Short) brother over disputed prize money, he ends up enrolled at fictional Truth University in Atlanta under the care of Uncle Nate (Harry J. Lennix) and Aunt Jackie (Valarie Pettiford). Despite their loving efforts, it's April Palmer (Meagan Good) and Stepping by the dueling fraternities that catch his attention and reignite his will to move beyond his terrible past. Director Sylvain White's interpretation of Robert Adetuyi's script brims with great intentions and good messages--heart and soul can defeat money and might--in a film that showcases a unique art form. Unfortunately, a predictable, derivative plot, confusing editing, and two-dimensional sub-characters detract from the full effect.
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