 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Step Up
- PG-13
- Genre: Drama
- 2006
Common Sense Media says
Clichéd dance movie with some fun moves.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie contains references to gang violence, racial unrest, and tragedies resulting from a life of poverty. Social classes are prevalent (the "privileged" and the "poor"), and lies and betrayal are part of the storyline. Tyler comes from a low-income foster home, and his life is all about parties, thugs, and criminal behavior, including a run-in with a chop-shop owner. There's some profanity and sexual innuendo.
What's the story?
When Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) gets caught trashing a private performing arts school with some of his buddies, the judge sentences him to community service -- cleaning the school for several hours each day. That's where he meets Nora (Jenna Dewan), a Type-A dance student with a wannabe pop star boyfriend (Josh Henderson). Nora's working hard on the choreography for her "Senior Showcase," a dance number she hopes will land her a job with a dance company after graduation. But when her partner hurts his ankle and can't practice, she needs someone to fill his place. After auditioning a few guys who can't dance worth beans, Nora's ready to give up hope. In between mopping and cleaning, Tyler notices her frustration and says he'll do it. No matter that he doesn't know a pirouette from a glissade. She's seen his hip-hop moves and knows he can dance. Besides that, she's desperate.
Is it any good?
We've seen all this before in Dirty Dancing, Take the Lead, and a zillion other dance movies. Guy from the wrong side of the tracks connects with girl through the power of dancing. She needs him to break into the next phase of her dance life, and he needs her to lift him out of his pathetic life. And it all culminates in The Big Dance Number, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, the storyline is tired and cheesy, but what saves STEP UP from cliché-dom are the fun dance numbers that make YOU want to get up and dance. Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum have great chemistry (helped along by the fact that he looks just like Wentworth Miller on Prison Break). And the actors did all their own dance moves, which lends an authenticity to the movie and saves us from having to sit through body doubles and clunky cutaway scenes.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what Tyler could have done differently in his life, rather than resorting to crime. How could Tyler have found different friends? How do you avoid "going along with the crowd" when you know they're in the wrong?
How do the adults in Tyler's life affect him? Could they have done
anything differently to help him? Is the school administrator right in
showing her disapproval when he wants to dance?And what about Nora's
mother? Is she right to want Nora to focus on college applications, or
should she nurture her daughter's love of dance?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
I LOVE THIS MOVIE
This is one of my favorites,I love this movie and I love channing tatum!! You'll like this movie if you like dancing & romance movies
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AGE
awesome
besides how tylers bro gets killed they should've included that yeah
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AGE
Great dance movie
I thought this movie was great. I loved Channing Tatum in it! He was a awesome dancer. It showed how good of a connection nora and tyler had in the movie cause they are now married!!
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AGE
Tyler's brother doesnt get killed. Mac's brother gets killed. Skinny and Mac are brothers and they are Tyler's friends.
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AGE
Step Up 4ever!
This movie is amazing!anyone any age should go see it!
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AGE
take the time to see it
OMC! channing tatum is sooooo amazing he is an awesome actor! although his best friends brother is shot in a movie and they steal a bunch of car it is still an AMAZING movie. please take the time to see it!
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AGE
Kinda cliche but still awesome.
I loved the dancing in this movie. The soundtrack is really good. Some of the acting was a little cheesy but it was an all around awesome movie.
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AGE
LOVE IT
This movie is really good. It makes you want to get up and dance.
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Kid, 12 years old
August 28, 2010
AGE
Fine for tweens
I must say I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it was ruined with the predictable storyline. Though I was weeping when Skinny died... The plot was realistic actually - a tough city with crime then a pampered city with rich kids clashing. I must say, I would recommend it to anyone who wants a movie on a rainy day.
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| Studio: | Buena Vista |
| Director: | Anne Fletcher |
| Cast: | Channing Tatum, Drew Sidora, Jenna Dewan, Rachel Griffiths |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 98 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | August 11, 2006 |
| DVD release date: | December 19, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | thematic elements, brief violence and innuendo |
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