How She Move DVD Review

How She Move tells the story of a high school student forced to leave her illustrious private high school and return to her home in the ghetto after her sister dies from a drug overdose. Raya (Rutina Wesley in her feature debut) struggles in a fish-out-of-water story of a teenage girl who has shrugged off her low-income background to better herself in hopes of attending medical school. For some reason, even though she was already attending the private school, Raya must now test for a scholarship, which she fails. Now Raya needs to figure some way to earn enough money to pay for school and the only way she can come up with is to join the well-known step team led by Bishop (Dwain Murphy). After a strenuous try out session, Raya is welcomed onto his team. However, after a competition where another team steals Bishop’s moves, Raya improvises, breaking rank, which results in her removal from the team. Desperate for the $50,000 prize money she could potentially earn, at Step Monster, the biggest step contest in the area, Raya quickly joins up with another step squad led by Bishop’s sworn enemy, Garvey (Cle’ Bennett). Featuring guest appearances from hip hop artist Keyshia Cole and stand up comedian DeRay Davis, How She Move culminates in yet another dance contest.

How She Move is a prime example of the film genre term blaxploitation. Blaxploitation is a portmanteau that blends the two words black and exploitation. Blaxploitation films are generally set in the ghetto or low-income areas of town. The film genre generally depicts African American people doing stereotypically African American things, including the way the characters dress, speak and act, often times through use of urban appearances, drug use and ethnic slang.

How She Move is a painfully formulaic and unoriginal film depicting characters and situations seen in so many films that have come before it. Films like Drumline, Step Up and even Save the Last Dance have all blazed the path that How She Move now walks.

How She Move is somewhat of an enigma when it comes to the cinematography. The dance sequences are well shot, with excellent coverage and a clean film stock. In contrast, the rest of the film is horrifically grainy and appears to have been shot on 16mm. The entire film, except for the dance sequences, plays like an extremely low budget independent film.

How She Move ends up playing off like a morality tale, beating the audience over the head with its lesson: In the end, no matter where you end up in life, do not forget where you come from and do not give up who you are in search of your dreams. This ends up giving the film a rather sappy patina. However, despite the horrible grammar in the title, How She Move’s energy in both the music and the performances ends up making the film watchable.

How She Move is presented in widescreen with a 5.1 stereo surround sound track. The DVD special features include featurettes like The Characters of How She Move, How She Move: From Rehearsal to Film and How She Move: Telling Her Story.