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Review #608 of 365
Movie Review of How She Move (2008) [PG-13] 98 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.25
Where Viewed: Harkins Ciné Capri at Northfield 18, Denver, CO
When Seen: 29 January 2008
Time: 9:55 pm
DVD Release Date: 29 April 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: Download now from 
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Directed by: Ian Iqbal Rashid (Touch of Pink)
Screenplay by: Annmarie Marais (Hotel Babylon)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Rutina Wesley (debut) • Dwain Murphy ("DeGrassi: The Next Generation") • Tré Armstrong (Save the Last Dance 2) • Brennan Gademans (Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of "Diff'rent Strokes") • Melanie Nicholls-King ("The Wire") • Jai Jai Jones (The Right Way) • Shawn Desman (Get Over It) • Tristan D. Lalla (debut) • Daniel Morrison ("DeGrassi: The Next Generation") • Keyshia Cole (debut) • DeRay Davis (License to Wed)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to read the spoiler points for How She Move
Back in 1983, there were some eyebrows raised when a brazen film critic for the
Columbine Courier gave the film, Flashdance, a daringly positive review. The film when on to spawn a new generation of love for dance in film that really has never entirely subsided. With her body double and Irene Cara song, Jennifer Beals inspired a generation despite the opinions of critics and skeptics at the time. In many ways, Ian Iqbal Rashid's How She Move shares much in common with the 80s trendsetter. With a virtual unknown leading lady, Rutina Wesley, playing a smart young daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Raya Green) who must step dance her way back into her independent school education when funds her parents had saved for her tuition get co-opted to help get her older sister off drugs. Unfortunately, Raya's sister does not survive the intervention succumbing to the dangers of drug abuse. Upon returning home, Raya finds her old friends, especially Michelle (Tré Armstrong) are not so keen on having her back, as Michelle put it, "slumming" with them. Desperate for cash to pay her tuition and certain she's failed the scholarship exam, Raya begs and then steps her way onto Bishop's step crew rejecting Michelle's offer to join her team—she knows they'll never give big prizes to a girls team. Bishop (Dwain Murphy) initially has a hard time selling his crew on the addition of a female stepper, but when they see what she can do their concerns are put to rest. (For more of the plot, see the
spoiler points.)Written by Annmarie Marais, How She Move, rises above many of the formulaic, "underdog rising to the top due to a hidden talent" films in several key ways. While the outcome is predictable, the steps along the way are not so much. The characters are more realistic avoiding too many of the clichés often found in films today—though it seems some stereotypes just never die out. Principally responsible for the success of the film are the insightful and focused junior members of the cast. Rutina Wesley stands as a tornado of confidence in her role against a world that would see her character on the streets or dead like her character's sister.
…possesses a poetic electricity that helps it rise a bit above run of the mill rivals…
She immerses herself in Raya completely. Dwain Murphy is the classic semi-overconfident Casanova, Bishop. He longs for a relationship with Raya, but she's going to need a lot more convincing. Tré Armstrong is perfect at dealing with the conflicting emotional state of Michelle, Raya's former best friend and current worst nightmare. On the one hand, she's Raya's oldest and dearest friend, and on the other she sees the return of Raya as a threat to every aspect of her life. The really coolest of the bunch, however, is Brennan Gademans as Bishop's younger, bespectacled, brother Quake. With his love of Tolstoy and journals of special step moves never seen before, he sets out, on his own, to make his brother's crew. All he needs is a little helm from Raya.
With great music, awesome stepping with choreography by Hi-Hat (including 5 weeks of step camp for the cast), Canadian financing, a talented young cast, guest judges for the Step Monster as themselves in the form of Keyshia Cole and DeRay Davis, and rousing music and dance step routines including the finale top three dance performances, the film possesses a poetic electricity that helps it rise a bit above run of the mill rivals.
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Other Projects Featuring How She Move (2008)
Cast Members
Rutina Wesley • Dwain Murphy • Tré Armstrong
Brennan Gademans • Melanie Nicholls-King • Jai Jai Jones
Shawn Desman • Tristan D. Lalla • Daniel Morrison
Keyshia Cole
Director
Ian Iqbal Rashid
Writer
Annmarie Marais
Review-lite
How She Move (2008) [max of 150 words]
Ian Iqbal Rashid's How She Move shares much in common with the 80s trendsetter, Flashdance. Similarly utilizing a virtual unknown leading lady, Rutina Wesley, playing a smart young daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Raya Green) who must step dance her way back into her independent school education when funds her parents had saved for her tuition get co-opted to help get her older sister off drugs, the film rises above many of the formulaic, "underdog rising to the top due to a hidden talent" films of the genre. With great music, awesome stepping, Canadian financing, a talented young cast, guest judges for the Step Monster as themselves in the form of Keyshia Cole and DeRay Davis, and rousing music and dance step routines including the finale top three dance performances, the film possesses a poetic electricity that helps it rise a bit above run of the mill rivals.
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