STOMP THE YARD MOVIE MOVIE

Lead actor Columbus Short has so far been stuck largely doing bit parts in episodic TV, but as DJ, he has a quiet, authoritative presence that holds the screen well. I knew nothing of the film's cast, who are a mix of up and coming young actors and hip-hop stars, yet I found them all very appealing. Still, I didn't mind the utter predictability of 'Stomp the Yard,' simply because of the enthusiasm with which it is acted and directed. It's also no surprise that every teacher will be a kind-hearted father figure, that there will be an evil rival whose missteps will end in tragedy, and that anytime the film's pace even remotely lags, there will soon be another hyperactive musical montage to keep things moving. We know the minute he first makes goo-goo eyes at April that he's gonna get the girl.

We know the minute that DJ first steps on campus and bumps up against a group of evil step dancers that there's going to be a big 'dance-off'Īt the end of the movie. Every plot twist is cliched, and the characters are all a mix of the stereotypes we've seen in a million other teen movies. My affection for 'Stomp the Yard' is even more of a surprise given that the picture is completely and utterly formulaic. Step dancers jockeyed for position with their best moves, all set to blistering, extremely loud hip-hop. And I was never less than entranced with the bombastic musical sequences, as rival groups of talented I started to root for DJ's budding romance with April (Meagan Good), a smart, pretty student. I became sympathetic to the plight of the film's hero, DJ (Columbus Short), a troubled youth from the inner city who, after the death of his kid brother in a gang shooting, gets a second chance with scholarship to Georgia's Truth University. Yet as I watched 'Stomp the Yard,' I found myself strangely intrigued by the picture - drawn into a world that is completely alien to me.

STOMP THE YARD MOVIE MOVIE

The characters in the movie - most of the kids in this movie weren't even alivewhen I was starting my first year of college. Not to mention the fact that I'm a good twenty years on from

Clearly, I'm not the target audience for 'Stomp the Yard.' As a boring, middle-class white boy from the suburbs, I'm about as likely to relate to a movie about urban collegiate step dancing as I would a film about Amish workers tending crops on a farm in Ohio.

Stomp the yard movie