After her family’s financial difficulties force her to leave private school, driven teenager Raya Green (Rutina Wesley) becomes obsessed with doing whatever it takes to get back so she can achieve all her educational goals and get out of the run-down neighborhood she’s originally from. With a week to prepare, she will study like mad to pass a test which could get her a much needed scholarship essentially assuring her future, the hopes of her parents (as well as the girl’s own) riding on the outcome. 

Melanie Nicholls-King and Rutina Wesley in Paramount Vantage's How She Move

But being back home isn’t an easy place to be. The family isn’t doing well since the death of Raya’s older sister to a drug overdose, and the kids at public school aren’t making it any easier. One-time friend Michelle (Tré Armstrong) is making things especially difficult, an on-compass tiff landing the pair in the principal’s office where she decides to forgo suspension as long as the former agrees to tutor the latter.

It is during this time when a rough and tumble camaraderie is slowly formed, especially after Michelle talks Raya into believing in her talents as a dancer and trying pursue her love for the art form even if it conjures painful memories of her sister’s death. Yet even this advice proves to be problematic, the teen joining up with a rival group of dynamic step dancers led by the sexy and charming Bishop (Dwain Murphy) putting a strain on their blossoming friendship.

One of the more audience friendly entries at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, How She Move isn’t exactly rocket science. Much like last year’s Stomp the Yard, writer Annmarie Morais and director Ian Iqbal Rashid follow the Rocky template almost blow-for-blow, the surprises here about as few and as far between as any in recent memory.

And yet, there is an energy to the film that is surprisingly intoxicating, all of it grounded in a gritty reality making the picture worthy of a second look. While the story is familiar and the outcome a forgone conclusion, newcomer Wesley cuts a dynamic visage having almost the same effect upon me as “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera did in her sensational debut Real Women Have Curves.

I loved this girl, her eyes a sea of emotional depth and complexity. More, Wesley is absolutely unafraid to dive right into the unsympathetic sea of selfish egotism driving Raya much of the time, making her ultimate realization that she can have still fight for her dreams without trampling over those of her friends or by distancing herself from her parents all the more empowering.

the actress s aside, the real reason people are going to take a chance on this picture is for the dancing and on that front I don’t think anyone is going to call themselves disappointed. The moves on display here are absolutely mind-blowing. Better, the final team performances are pretty much shown in their entirety, allowing us to see for ourselves the body-bending brilliance of the artists and athletes bringing them to life. There are times when I literally had to hold my breath in awe, Wesley and company doing things I’d never have believed capable had I not witnessed them with my very own eyes.

Not that this forgives the sheer unabashed obviousness of Morais’ screenplay. The clichés are rampant, and Michelle’s lightning quick turnaround from friend, to enemy, back to friend again is freakishly silly. There is a point where a person almost wants to scream, "Enough!" and make the filmmakers start over again from scratch, some of the drama so blatantly obvious and uninspired Lifetime Television would probably not even use it in one of their own maudlin melodramas. 

Still, if you can forgive its sappily over-emotional familiarity and look past the fact there aren’t going to be any real curves you don't see coming chances are viewers are going to walk away relatively happy. The dancing is sensational and the performances, especially Wesley’s, ring authentic and true. The girl may not always be graceful, but How She Move is still good enough to warrant a mild vote of approval.

Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)

Additional Links:

-  How She Move Theatrical Trailer