How She Move

Name: How She Move
Genre: Drama
Released: January 25, 2008
Duration: 94 min
Rating: 63
Cast: Brennan Gademans, Tre Armstrong

2008

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Ratings

See All

5.3

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.3	Your Score
5.3	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

How She Move

Now Playing: How She Move

Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Vantage | Release Date: January 25, 2008 | PG-13

Starring: Brennan Gademans, Tre Armstrong

Summary: Bursting with raw talent and intelligence, Raya Green, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, has always been the family’s one great hope. She won the rare chance to break out of their drug and crime-infested neighborhood when she was accepted into the exclusive Seaton Academy. But when her sister dies of an overdose, the family is shatteredBursting with raw talent and intelligence, Raya Green, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, has always been the family’s one great hope. She won the rare chance to break out of their drug and crime-infested neighborhood when she was accepted into the exclusive Seaton Academy. But when her sister dies of an overdose, the family is shattered and Raya is forced to return to the place she tried so hard to escape.
It’s not easy to go back – especially when one-time friends, including the tough minded Michelle, see Raya as a stuck-up traitor who left the community behind. Feeling trapped and looking for a way out, Raya learns about a step competition with a $50,000 cash prize that could change her fate. Most of the crews that win the big money are all male, forcing Raya to fight her way in as the sole female member of the Jane Street Junta, led by the reining champ of the local steppin’ scene Bishop. As sparks begin to fly between Raya and Bishop, a false move by Raya leaves her without a crew, and she finds herself in a battle between her loyalty, her determination, her family’s ambitions and her heart. As the big contest approaches, she realizes it’s no longer just about the money or the opportunity, but also the one thing that she’s been missing in her life: a sense of self. (Paramount Vantage)
… Expand

Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 94 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Michael Phillips

Mainly it’s a very solid dance picture, which is the point. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

Choreographer Hi Hat and director Ian Iqbal Rashid kick the film into high gear every so often with dance sequences, climaxing with a dance-off in Detroit that seems too short. Read full review

Jim Ridley

Especially good are Wesley, whose expressions are a study in shifting thought, and Tre Armstrong as her street-hardened but good-hearted rival, a stock role that Armstrong fills with unmediated feeling. Read full review

Chris Kaltenbach

There's tremendous energy in How She Move, so much that the audience can't help but be swept up. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

Formulaic but well-acted variation on the theme of pursuing your dreams through dance. Read full review

Kyle Smith

The atmosphere is convincing - there is an "Eight Mile" desperation to Raya's plight - but nothing makes sense. Read full review

David Wiegand

Movie cliches are supposed to be bad things because they make the movie too predictable. But you know, there are times when they actually work in a film's favor. Read full review

SEE ALL 21 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

[Anonymous]

Jan 25, 2008

It is pretty good as dance movies come and the dancing is soooo good I would recommend it! (it helps that the acting is good).

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MelodeeG

Jan 29, 2008

Great film with a fresh and talented young cast and electric dance sequences! Way to go, Canada!!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

ChadS.

Jan 26, 2008

If the movie world offers a glimpse into the everyday realities of our culture, then by all appearances, Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech has been co-opted by today's black youth and applied to their goal of capturing first place in step-dancing contests. Nobody is If the movie world offers a glimpse into the everyday realities of our culture, then by all appearances, Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech has been co-opted by today's black youth and applied to their goal of capturing first place in step-dancing contests. Nobody is going to finance a movie about a black girl who can cut up a cadaver, so "How She Move" offers this compromise: Raya is a pre-med student who can cut up a dance floor. When Michelle(Tracey Armstrong) invites Raya (Rutina Wesley) to join an all-girl step team, "How She Move" could've been a battle-of-the-sexes movie, since we are told that all the top money goes to the men. But Raya is no feminist; she's an opportunist, a girl who has grown accustomed to being on her own(Raya was a black girl in a predominantly white boarding school). She convinces Bishop(Dwain Murphy) to sign her up for his crew, in a scene reminiscent of "Grease"(a step-dance reinterpretation of the John Travolta/Jeff Conaway number "Greased Lightning"), and double-crosses him when her self-assertiveness(due in part to her educational background) butts heads with the patriarchal rules of the ghetto(even a Canadian ghetto). "How She Move" concludes tidily, but at least the story throws more obstacles in front of its inevitable happy ending. "How She Move" is also hindered by a heroine who doesn't really need to win the contest. The more you scrutinize Raya's actions, the more you realize that she's only in it for herself. Raya's no saint; she's a flawed person, which makes "How She Move" infinitely more interesting than last year's "Stomp the Yard".… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

SEE ALL 3 REVIEWS