''Step Up'' is a 2006 American

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

romantic

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Anne Fletcher Anne Fletcher (born May 1, 1966) is an American choreographer, film director, dancer and actress. She directed the films '' Step Up'' (2006), ''27 Dresses'' (2008) and ''The Proposal (2009 film), The Proposal'' (2009). Early life Born Anne Marie ...

(in her

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

) from a screenplay by

Duane Adler Duane Adler (born ) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing numerous dance films, including ''Save the Last Dance'' (2001) and ''Step Up (film), Step Up'' (2006). The films grossed over $250 million each, which ...

and

Melissa Rosenberg Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of A ...

and a story by Adler. The film stars

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film ''Step Up (film), Step Up''. He gained wider attention for ...

Jenna Dewan Jenna Lee Dewan (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and later worked with artists including Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her ...

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

Drew Sidora Drew Sidora Pittman (née Jordan; born May 1, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her recurring role as Chantel in the Disney Channel Original Series ''That's So Raven'', as Lucy Avila in the 2006 film '' Step Up'', as Tion ...

Damaine Radcliff Damaine Anthony Radcliff (born June 7, 1979), is an American film actor who was born in The Bronx, New York City. Founder of Raining Giants, he is most known for his starring roles in the movies ''Glory Road'', '' Step Up'' and as Executive Prod ...

, and

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born in 1968) is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series ''Secrets'' before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy ''Muriel's Wedding'' ...

. Set in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage (Tatum) and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark (Dewan), who find themselves paired up in a showcase that determines both of their futures. Realizing that they only have one chance, they finally work together. ''Step Up'' was released by

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

and

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company. It is a label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Entertainment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. History Independent era (1991–2012) Summit E ...

in the United States on August 11, 2006. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but became a box office success, grossing $114.2 million worldwide against a budget of $12 million. It spawned a

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

that includes four sequels and a television series.

Plot

Brothers Mac (Radcliff) and Skinny Carter and their best friend Tyler Gage (Tatum) attend a party where they have a fight with their nemesis, PJ. P.J. is involved in car thefts around the city, and Tyler, Mac, and Skinny, have also gotten involved in the crimes. Following the party, the trio break into the Maryland School of Arts and trash the theatre. When a security guard appears, Tyler helps the two escape, accepting full blame for the vandalism himself. Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service at the school. He works as a custodian, doing everything from mopping to changing light bulbs. While putting in his hours, he watches Nora Clark's (Dewan) dance class preparing for her "senior showcase", an audition performance which will determine if she gets a position with an attending professional dance company. When Mac and Skinny visit Tyler on the school's lot, Nora watches from a window as Tyler dances with his friends, mockingly a mashup of

breakdance Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

and the moves he recently observed. When Andrew, her dance partner sprains an ankle, she finds herself without a partner for her routine. Auditioning sophomores to replace him, none meet her expectations. Tyler offers to help, but Nora initially refuses. After proving he can handle the routine, she reconsiders, convincing Director Gordon to let him rehearse with her. Initially they clash, but as rehearsals continue they grow closer and learn from each other. Tyler also befriends Miles (Mario), a music student with a crush on Nora's friend, Lucy (Sidora). Nora's bond with Tyler grows, and one day she takes him to a special spot on the waterfront where she first envisioned her routine. She had always imagined it as an ensemble dance, rather than a duet. Tyler is inspired to help her dream come true, recruiting younger dancers from the school to perform in her number. Brett signs a recording deal with a company, betraying Miles for the opportunity. Disgusted, Nora breaks up with him. Meanwhile, Tyler continues to try to balance his new goals, new friends, and nurturing a troubled relationship with his old ones. Tyler asks Director Gordon if she will admit him into the school, and is told he must prove he deserves a chance. Nora suggests using the showcase also as his entrance audition. After dancing together at a club where Miles and Lucy perform, Tyler and Nora finally kiss. Rehearsals continue until Andrew returns, seemingly healed from his injury. Feeling angry and no longer needed, Tyler accuses Nora of using him like Brett treated Miles. Leaving the group he returns to his janitorial work. However, as the choreography is now much too difficult for Andrew, he falls, pulling himself from the routine. Again without a partner, crushed, she considers abandoning her dance career for college after all. Her mother's encouragement inspires her to rewrite the choreography without a partner. Later during a party night at Omar's, Skinny comes by against his mother's insistence he stay at home and gets kicked out by Mac and Tyler. Frustrated, Skinny walks back home in a huff before spotting PJ arriving at a store with his friend. Skinny steals PJ's unattended car and foolishly drives back to Omar's, wanting to hang out with the girls. Mac and Tyler are trying to get Skinny to abandon the car when PJ and his friends arrive and fatally shoot Skinny. A few days after Skinny's funeral, Mac and Tyler both realize that they need to make better life decisions. Tyler shows up at the last minute on the evening of the showcase. He tries to persuade Nora to let him perform with them, and to forgive him. Initially declining, she suddenly changes her mind as Tyler wishes her luck and walks away. When the curtain opens, the whole ensemble performs the original choreography with Miles' latest musical score. The crowd is blown away. Backstage, a proud Director Gordon introduces Nora to a director of a professional dance company, hoping to sign Nora. Meanwhile, Mac congratulates Tyler for his performance. Thereafter, Director Gordon introduces Tyler as a "transfer." Nora is elated and embraces him. Repeating her original advice that he'll need to get some tights, the movie ends with them sharing a kiss.

Cast

as Tyler Gage, a lower class hip hop dancer and Camille's foster brother who vandalizes MSA and is sentenced to community service by washing the school's windows. Tyler eventually falls in love with Nora. *

as Nora Clark, a ballet dancer who wants to be a professional dancer. Nora's father died prior to the events of the movie. *

as Miles Darby, Nora's other best friend who is a talented DJ. Miles was previously lower class just like Tyler. Miles now lives with his aunt. *

as Lucille "Lucy" Avila, Nora's best friend who loves to sing and is in a relationship with a college student named Colin. Lucy encourages Nora to follow her dream of being a professional dancer. *

as Marcus "Mac" Carter, Tyler's best friend and Skinny's older brother * De'Shawn Washington as Skinny Carter, Mac's younger brother who dies from his injuries and blood loss after being shot. *

Alyson Stoner Alyson Rae Stoner (born August 11, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her film roles include ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (2003), '' Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' (2005), and the ''Step Up'' franchise (2006–2014). Her television roles i ...

as Camille, Tyler's foster sister and also a talented hip hop dancer *

as Director Gordon, the no nonsense director of Maryland School of Arts *

Josh Henderson Joshua Baret Henderson (born October 25, 1981) is an American actor, model, and singer. Henderson is best known for his lead role as John Ross Ewing III in the TNT revival of ''Dallas'' (2012–2014). He played Austin McCann on the ABC television ...

as Brett Dolan, Nora's ex-boyfriend who wants to be a singer *

Heavy D Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. ''Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heav ...

as Omar, a shady car dealer *

Deirdre Lovejoy Deirdre Lovejoy (born June 30, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman on HBO’s ''The Wire''. She is also known for her roles as a serial killer List of Bones characters#The G ...

as Katherine Clark, Nora's widowed mother who doesn't approve of dance. Katherine doesn't think that dance is a practical career for Nora. Katherine wants Nora to move on from dance and go to college so she can pursue a practical career. Katherine is afraid that Nora will get hurt by pursuing a career in dance. *

Jamie Scott Jamie Scott (born James Christopher Needle; 12 February 1984) is an Ivor Novello Award winning English singer, songwriter and producer. Career Songwriting As a writer and producer Scott has sold over 100 million albums, 50 million singles, has ...

as Colin, Lucy's college aged boyfriend Actors Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan met while filming ''Step Up'' and began dating shortly after it was completed; they married in 2009. In 2013, they had their first daughter, Everly Elizabeth Maiselle Tatum. In 2018, they announced they were separating.

Reception

Box office

''Step Up'' earned a total of $21 million in its opening weekend, ranking second in the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

box office. It earned $65.3 million in the United States and Canada by its last day in theaters on October 19, 2006. The film's budget was $12 million.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 21% based on reviews from 108 critics, with an average rating of 4.60/10. The website's consensus states that "this trite teen romance has too little plot and not enough dancing". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the film has a weighted average score of 48/100 based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews"; its highest score was 75 (from both ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' and ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''), and its lowest was a 25 from the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

''. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade A−.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on December 19, 2006.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features music from

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model and entrepreneur. She released her debut studio album, '' Goodies'' in 2004, which spawned four singles: " Goodies" (featuring Petey Pa ...

Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He was the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click from 2001 until the group split in 2005. He began his ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

's Sharon Den Adel,

Blaire Reinhard Blaire Reinhard is a singer, pianist, and songwriter from Morristown, New Jersey. She is the granddaughter of trumpet player and Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen. On September 7, 2012, her single "No Nothing" with Curtis & Reinhard reached ...

Yung Joc Jasiel Amon Robinson (born September 20, 1980), better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2006 hit single " It's Goin' Down". and as a feature on T-Pain's US number-one single "Buy U a Drank (Shawt ...

and 3LW.

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

singer

Koda Kumi , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion ...

's 35th single

But/Aishō BUT / Aishou (愛証 / ''Love Proof'') is singer-songwriter Koda Kumi's 35th single and was released on March 14, 2007. It was her first single of 2007 and first to bring her new era, ''Kingdom''. The single was a limited purchase, only being sol ...

was used as a theme song for the Japanese edition of the movie. The lead singles from the soundtrack are

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Cole began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer. After signing with A&M Records ...

's " (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me",

's " Say Goodbye", and

single, "

Get Up Get or GET may refer to: * Get (animal), the offspring of an animal * Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law * GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request * "Get" (song), by the Groggers * Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia * Get AS, a ...

" featuring

. It was released August 8. Other tracks include

' "80s Joint", Anthony Hamilton's "Dear Life",

YoungBloodZ YoungBloodZ is an American Southern hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia composed of J-Bo (born Jeffrey Raymond Grigsby on October 4, 1977) and Sean P (born Sean Paul Ryan Joseph on March 7, 1978). The duo was signed to LaFace Records. They are o ...

's "Imma Shine" and

Petey Pablo Moses Barrett III (born July 22, 1973), known by the stage name Petey Pablo, is an American rapper from Greenville, North Carolina. He is best known for his 2003 Crunk hit single "Freek-a-Leek". Biography Born in Greenville, North Carolina, Bar ...

's "Show Me The Money". The title track was performed by future ''X Factor Australia'' winner

Samantha Jade Samantha Jade Gibbs (born 18 April 1987) is an Australian singer and songwriter. She has written tracks for artists including JoJo and Ashley Tisdale. In 2012, Jade won the fourth season of ''The X Factor Australia'', the first woman to win ...

and produced by

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{Anne Fletcher 2006 films 2000s dance films 2006 romantic drama films 2000s romantic musical films 2000s teen drama films 2000s teen romance films American dance films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films American teen drama films American teen musical films American teen romance films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Anne Fletcher Films scored by Aaron Zigman Films set in Baltimore Films shot in Baltimore 2000s hip hop films Films with screenplays by Melissa Rosenberg Step Up (film series) Summit Entertainment films 2006 directorial debut films Touchstone Pictures films 2000s American films