Film Reviews

How She Move

• Rating:
• Director: Ian Igbal Rashid
• Starring: Dwain Murphy
• Details: Canada / 94mins (12A).

Step Up 2: The Streets might appeal to the 'Omg dis iz da best flik evr' brigade, but the grittier How She Move is a much better film and will have a longer shelf life. Set in a poor section of Toronto, smart Raya Green (Wesley), the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, is forced to quit her private school when her older sister dies of a drug overdose. In an effort to pay for her schooling, Raya joins an exclusive boy's stepping crew with hopes of landing the cash prize in the international competition in Detroit. It's clear from the off that How She Move is different: director Rashid wants to stay away from the glossy, packaged dance movies like Step Up and Honey, and he succeeds. Using the very much in vogue handheld camera technique, his documentary approach is the movie's saving grace. With the use of coarse lighting (to such an extent, it's hard to see the faces of all concerned) and unflattering locations without over-egging the pudding, Rashid has no interest in making a pretty picture. That is until the competition comes calling and the movie becomes a different animal altogether: the tunes used and the innovative choreography put How She Move's competitors in the shade.

Review by Gavin Burke