Step Up (film) Step Up is a 2006 American dance/romance film directed by Anne Fletcher starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan), who find themselves paired up in a showcase that determines both of their futures Realizing that they only have one chance, they finally work together Two sequels followed: Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up 3D (2010) A third sequel, Step Up 4Ever, is planned for a 2012 release Plot Following a party, Mac (Damaine Radcliff) and Skinny Carter (De'Shawn Washington), and their friend Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum), break into the Maryland School of Arts and damage many of the props in the school's theatre When a security guard appears, Tyler helps the other two escape and accepts the blame He is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, which he has to serve at the school While working, he watches a dance class and meets Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan), a student preparing for her "senior showcase." The performance could determine if she gets a job with a dance company Later, Nora secretly watches as Tyler mockingly shows his friends a mix of break-dance and the ballet moves he picked up Nora's dance partner sprains his ankle, leaving Nora without a partner After auditioning some students, she doesn't meet anyone who is good enough Tyler offers to help, but she at first refuses Eventually she changes her mind, having seen him dancing earlier, and convinces Director Gordon (Rachel Griffiths) to allow Tyler to rehearse with her During their initial practice session, Tyler is antagonistic toward Nora as well as her boyfriend, Brett (Josh Henderson), both of whom choose to ignore the behaviour because they believe they are better than him As they continue to rehearse, Nora and Tyler teach the other about their respective styles of dance Tyler also befriends a musician at the school named Miles (Mario) One day, Nora takes Tyler to a special spot on the waterfront, which is where she envisioned her routine She tells Tyler she always imagined it would be with a large group, and Tyler helps her dream come true by recruiting younger dancers from the school to perform in her number Brett gets a solo recording deal with a company, so he drops Miles as his back-up musician Nora then breaks up with Brett after seeing his poor treatment of their friend Tyler asks Director Gordon if she will let him attend the school, and her response is that he must prove to her that he deserves a chance Nora says the showcase can be his audition When Nora's dance partner returns, Tyler feels that he is no longer needed in the routine, and angrily accuses Nora of treating him the same way her ex-boyfriend treated Miles He leaves the group and goes back to janitorial work at the school However, in the course of the training Nora has been incorporating many of Tyler's suggestions for the choreography, and it is now too difficult for the original partner to perform Nora is left without a partner, but though she is crushed, she changes the choreography into a dance without a partner Later on, Skinny is fatally shot after stealing a car, making Mac and Tyler realize that they need to make better choices in their lives Later at the dance showcase, Tyler shows up and Nora is shocked to see him Tyler tries to persuade Nora to let him in She initially says no but then changes her mind and Tyler dances with her onstage (using their original choreography), impressing everybody When Director Gordon tells a Director from a Professional Dance company looking to sign Nora, that Tyler is a transfer student At the last moment Tyler kisses Nora and the story ends REVIEW: STEP UP Reviewed By: Scott Gwin Step Up relies far too heavily on character types we've seen before If this is your first foray into the realm of teen dance dramas you might not notice, but otherwise expect it to be a little annoying From Nora's stuck-up, pop idolish boyfriend to Tyler's troublemaking best friend, right down to the tag along, begging-to-be-killed-in-a-driveby-shooting little brother, the movie is crammed full of people and scenarios borrowed shamelessly from other films The adult characters are by far the worst, but given the movie's target audience it no doubt pays to keep the grown-ups as stereotypical as possible The worst part about these characters is how easy it is to guess what their part is in the story It's kind of hard to be shocked by or scared for them when you've got a pretty good idea of what they’re going to next and how things are going to work out Long time choreographer and first time director Anne Fletcher seems a little lost her first time behind the camera While her eye for choreography produces some impressive dance sequences, her movie regularly loses momentum and at times gets downright tedious For someone who has a lot of experience with movement, she seems to struggle to keep her film moving towards its final destination To the movie's credit, it doesn't pander to the current popularity of Channing Tatum's "hotness" She's The Man had the teen and tween girl demographics aflutter with the actor's naked chest He may not offer much in the way of a strong performance in this movie, but I give Fletcher credit for keeping Tatum's shirt on throughout the entire film The girls may be disappointed with that choice, but there's plenty of him and the rest of his twenty-something cast mates students dancing to hip hop to keep the My Space gang smiling READING COMPREHENSION Name the two main actors that star in Step Up _ How many sequels have they made? What are their names? Why is Tyler sentenced to community service? How Tyler and Nora meet? Why does Nora ask Tyler to be her dance partner? Why does Nora break up with Brett? Who is Skinny and what happens to him? After reading the review, you think the reviewer liked the movie? Why or why not? What is a choreographer? 10 What does the reviewer mean when he says the characters are ‘stereotypical’? 11 What is My Space? 12 Do you like ‘Step Up’? Why or why not? _ _