Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Charlotte Rampling, Nichola Burley, Richard Winsor, Ukweli Roach, George Sampson, Sianad Gregory, Lex Milczarek, Kofi Aggyman, Eleanor Bron and dance crews Diversity and Flawless
Written by Jane English
Certification UK PG
Runtime 98 minutes
Directed by Max Giwa & Dania Pasquini
Carly (Burley) is an aspiring streetdancer with her boyfriend Jay (Roach) and their crew Jay2-0 who are rehearsing for the UK Streetdance Championships. The winner of this event will scoop a trip to New York to represent the country in the world championships. Then, just as thing are going so well, Jay announces he has to take a break from dancing and from Carly. She is distraught, the crew is disillusioned and they soon find themselves without a rehearsal space. Then out of the blue, a chance encounter gives Carly the opportunity to practise for free – but only if they agree to dance with a ballet class.
The prevalence of talent shows on UK television over the last few years has brought dancing to the forefront of social consciousness so it’s perhaps no wonder that there’s a perceived if not real market for Fame-style films, with stories of battling against the odds, overcoming prejudice and winning out through sheer determination. StreetDance is the perfect showcase for such talents and a more cynical reviewer might suggest that this film was made purely to cash in on the fame and popularity of George Sampson (Winner, Britain’s Got Talent 2008) and dance crew Diversity (Winners, Britain’s Got Talent 2009).
There’s nothing wrong with riding the populist wave per se but when the writing is as bad as it is in this it’s really quite depressing. StreetDance is so predictable, so clichéd, so full of stereotypes that I’m not even going to list them. You could have written this, in your sleep, blindfold with your hands tied behind your back. But you wouldn’t have done because you’re better than that. For some reason, the filmmakers thought otherwise so we’re subjected to an hour and a half of cringeworthy, heartfelt dialogue about “feeling the music” and “being yourself”.
I can’t pretend to be a fan of watching dancing but the melodramatic interludes were so appalling that increasingly I found myself looking forward to the dancing, just for some respite. And after a while, it’s hard not to begin enjoying these vibrant, energetic routines by beautiful, fit young things. Hanging the dancing onto such a flimsy, stock plot clearly has to be done in order to make it a film but between the dance set pieces it’s absolutely desperate. Oh, and quite what Charlotte Rampling is doing here is anybody's guess - did she really think the script was any good?
StreetDance is suitably glossy, has a great soundtrack and the dancing is terrific – there will undoubtedly be an audience for the film. The 3D is perfectly fine, if entirely pointless, and will doubtless be an added draw for the yoof. But anyone looking for anything remotely new, interesting or different in terms of plot, character or situation will find this utterly bereft of all of the above.