Critiques thus far unfair

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2006)

I'm not going to try and maintain that this is the best movie ever because while I think it's a great movie, it does lack the sort of depth of plot exhibited by something like Memento. But let's be honest here it's not that type of movie, and it's not intended to be that type of movie. It's intended to be a feel good movie with a ton of great dancing and it entirely delivers on that aspect.
One, the dancing was amazing. I'm a ballroom dancer and like most people I enjoy my share of hip hop dancing though I'm certainly not trained in it. Irrespective of my credential or lack there of, I thought this movie exhibited some really awesome dancing. While it's easily compared to Save the Last Dance, this movie goes far beyond Save the Last Dance both in believability and in dance showcasing. I happen to still like Save the Last Dance, but this movie exceeds it in every way. Unlike many dance movies this movie shows an excellent and imaginative final performance as well as the training scenes throughout. It mixes ballet and hip hop in a seamless and unique way and the soundtrack is amazing.
Furthermore, the acting in this movie was excellent. I know many people have been complaining about Channing's performance, but as someone who works for the Public Defender's Office specifically in juvenile court, I found his acting to be amazing. His acting was so true to life that I thought I was looking at one of my juvenile clients. People might complain that he was robotic or didn't show enough emotion, but you've got to realize the type of person he was attempting to be. He's not some upper-middle class expressive kid. He's an indigent kid who's had no childhood and is living in an environment where emotion is not exactly a quality you want to show. I walked out of the theater thinking I'd never seen someone express so much realism in a character, so I find it hard to believe that people are claiming that his acting was bad. I think instead that these people making those remarks have no idea of what the character he was trying to portray would actually think or feel or how they would act.
All in all I think this was a great and enjoyable movie and while you shouldn't expect Lord of the Rings quality, you should also give it a chance before lumping it into the category of juvenile chic flicks most everyone else seems to have hastily decided it belongs to.
And one final note - as to the person who said there were many better films that exhibited dancing - I'd really like to know what films he's referring to. Because it definitely wasn't Save the Last Dance and it definitely wasn't Center Stage and I'm just left wondering what else s/he's referring to.