Step Up

Magic Mike star Channing Tatum's career got an early boost from this Dirty Dancing rip-off for the street dance generation

Magic Mike star Channing Tatum's career got an early boost from this Dirty Dancing rip-off for the street dance generation. He's a delinquent kid who has to do community service at a Baltimore performing arts school. But then he steps in to partner top ballet student Jenna Dewan and he's soon learning that the way to a girl's heart is through her grand jetés! While she's learning that there's more to life than well, grand jetés.

Enjoyably corny, this teen movie merrily ticks off every cliché in the book but the exhilarating dance sequences - both in and out of the school - and Tatum's own particular brand of sullen, blue-collar charisma turn it into a guilty pleasure for anyone with an ounce of romance in their hearts. And there are obviously quite a few of those viewers, because this film kicked off a franchise which is still going strong over a decade later with the soon-to-be-released Step Up 6!

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