If nothing else, "Step Up" is a great inducement to hit the gym. Or the barre. And the yoga mat. Anything in fact, to tighten those upper body muscles and get those abs to pop out.
Directed by Hollywood choreographer Anne Fletcher (her work includes "Boogie Nights" and "Cheers!") "Step Up" is a dance movie through and through, i.e. a triumph of physical exertion over content. On the other hand, with incredibly aligned bodies plus a lot of great lycra products (and you'll see a lot of those) who really needs substance? OK, substance is important, but there are times in life when all you want to do is sit back and guffaw over something like "Step Up" -- remembering fragments of dance lessons past, or those days when you danced till dawn before shakily making it back home to crash fully-clothes onto the bed.
"Dancers have a tough time," says lead actress Jenna Dewan during a promotional trip to Tokyo. Dewan plays Nora, a performance-arts student who is desperate to become a dance pro after graduation. "They're treated pretty badly for incredible amounts of hard work, and even if they do become successful, there's no guarantee that injuries or bad luck or any number of things will pull them down."