High Strung

Girl just wanna have fun.

(2016) Urban Musical (Paladin) Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Jane Seymour, Sonoya Mizuno, Richard Southgate, Paul Freeman, Maia Morgenstern, Ian Eastwood, Anabel Kutay, Marcus Emanuel Mitchell, Comfort Fedoke, Simon A. Mendoza, Miranda Wilson, Dave Scott, Andrew Pleavin, Tomi May, David Lipper, Nigel Barber, Giulia Nahmany. Directed by Michael Damian

 

One is a fresh-faced wanna-be ballerina from the Midwest who is in danger of losing her scholarship to a prestigious arts academy in Manhattan. The other is a brooding, angry subway busker whose violin playing shows tons of ability and tons of passion but little restraint; he’s about to be deported. Is this a match made in heaven or the odd couple?

This is the latest entry into a genre that really began in 1980 with Fame but has really picked up steam in the last decade with the Step Up movie franchise, the Glee TV series and Pitch Perfect, to name a few, plus other assorted one-offs. Star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks, one into classical performance art, the other an innovator, face enormous challenges, enter a dance competition usually revolving around hip-hop, then after a temporary setback nearly tears them apart, reunites in the last frame to grab the gold, the glory and the fluttering hearts of tweens everywhere. Roll credits.

It’s not a bad formula per se, but this is the type of movie that has not been among my favorite genres and this one is a fairly weak representative of it. The dialogue is a bit clunky and the plot preposterous. The saving grace for the couple – ballet dancer Ruby (Kampa) and hip-hop violinist Johnny (Galitzine) – is (get this) a string and dance competition with a $25,000 grand prize. Have you heard of a string and dance competition, much less one that is giving away that much cash? I didn’t think so.

There are also hard hats who break out into a dance-off on a subway platform and a (fictional) conservatory that seems to only employ Russians, including a feisty and nearly unrecognizable Jane Seymour as the headmistress, and Paul Freeman as a dancer whose hips were shattered by the Nazis who has become a pre-eminent ballet teacher. Ironic, since Freeman played a Nazi ally in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The dance sequences are energetic, spirited and actually a lot of fun to watch. That figures, since Dave Scott, one of the best hip hop choreographers in the business, is involved as a producer (although he is not listed as a choreographer here). They’re most certainly the best aspects of the film and make it marginally watchable. The cast is fresh-faced and at least good watching; Kampa has a kind of ingénue appeal, while Galitzine has cheekbones that can cut glass and a brooding pout sure to set tween girls to sighing in their Corn Flakes for months after seeing this.

But too much of this movie is simply “been there, done that” and the most amazing dance sequences in the world can’t save a movie that borrows so heavily from other movies, many of which are frankly not that good. I will give it props for having a gee-whiz can-do vibe and a certain innocent sweetness to it, but there isn’t enough here to hold the interest of any but the most non-discerning for the entire hour and a half run time.

REASONS TO GO: High energy. Winsome leads.
REASONS TO STAY: Cliches abound. Adds nothing to the genre. Stretches credulity. Predictable throughout.
FAMILY VALUES: A little foul language and some thematic elements.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Much of the movie was filmed in Bucharest, standing in for Manhattan.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 4/8/16: Rotten Tomatoes: 67% positive reviews. Metacritic: 48/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Step Up
FINAL RATING: 4/10
NEXT: To Keep the Light

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New Releases for the Week of April 8, 2016

THE BOSS

(Universal) Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Taylor Labine, Kathy Bates, Kristen Schaal, Margo Martindale. Directed by Ben Falcone

The world’s richest woman has been brought down a peg or two. A financial scandal however, brings her empire crashing down around her and sends her to the slammer to pay her debt to society. Once she comes out, she has nothing and is forced to stay with her put-upon one-time assistant. Depressed, she hits upon a brilliant scheme to take her back to the top – a scheme that involves young girls selling cookies. But she stepped on a lot of people on her way to the top and not all of them are willing to see her rise again.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for sexual content, language and brief drug use)

Demolition

(Fox Searchlight) Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Naomi Watts, Judah Lewis. An investment banker struggles against despair after losing his wife in a car accident. An increasingly confessional set of letters to a vending machine company catches the attention of a customer service representative who forms an unlikely bond with him. This inspires him to take a sledge hammer to his former life – literally – so that he can begin a new one.

See the trailer, interviews, a clip and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Amstar Lake Mary, Cinemark Artegon Marketplace, Regal Oviedo Mall, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language, some sexual references, drug use and disturbing behavior)

Hardcore Henry

(STX) Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Tim Roth. Henry’s having a bad day. He just woke up from being dead with no memory by a doctor who claims to be his wife, who is promptly kidnapped by a bloodthirsty warlord with plans for world domination. Although he can’t remember her, he figures he should get her back – she may be the key to remembering his past. The trouble is that there is an army of mercenaries and Henry doesn’t know whom to trust. This innovative Russian film was shot entirely from Henry’s perspective, making it not unlike a first person shooter game.

See the trailer, clips and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for non-stop brutal bloody violence and mayhem, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use)

High Strung

(Paladin) Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Jane Seymour, Sonoya Mizuno. A British violinist who has a yen for playing hip-hop and an aspiring Ballet dancer from the Midwest attending one of the most prestigious arts schools in New York City meet and find that while their viewpoints clash, their hearts most certainly do not. As the two lovers face the possibilities of losing their dreams, they prepare to perform in a contest that will utilize both their skills and allow them to continue pursuing those ambitions should they win it – or separate them forever should they lose.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Urban Musical
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, AMC Loew’s Universal CIneplex
Rating: PG (for some thematic elements and mild language)

Midnight Special

(Warner Brothers) Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver. A father and his 8-year-old son have as close a bond as any father and son ever. But when the boy develops inexplicable powers, there are forces – not all of them looking out for the welfare of the boy – who want to exploit that power for themselves. The two go on the run, chased by mysterious forces with only the boy’s extraordinary powers and his father’s love and courage to protect them.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence and action)