How She Move

DVD Review

Paramount Home Entertainment

Release: April 29, 2008

How She Move won critical acclaim back at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize. It features R&B singer and songwriter Keyshia Cole in a special appearance, as well as a few others. The inspiring film has been brought to the DVD format from Paramount Home Entertainment.

The film stars young Raya, played by Rutina Wesley. She is forced to leave her private school and go to a Toronto neighborhood which is far from high-class. It is a tough situation for any girl to be thrown into, but her parents can no longer afford her private school.

Raya is determined though, as she sees all of her childhood friends following a road which is leading them to drugs and trouble.

She first tries to get a scholarship to get back into the private school, but distractions with her family and others holds her back. She enters a dancing contest to try and win prize money to get back into the school. If I have to go any further, then you haven’t seen the likes of Save The Last Dance and other similar films. It is inspirational and entertaining, but nothing we haven’t seen before.

The video quality of this DVD release is decent considering that this is not a high-budget film, and was never meant to be.

Some of the colors are not as clear and crisp as they should be, and there is some issues with grain in a few spots.

The audio is well-done and presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. The audio sounds great for the dancing and music, and the dialogue is kept separate from the other sounds to make it stand out when needed. A nice audio mix.

In terms of special features, How She Move is pretty limited. The Characters of How She Move stands out above the other features as it gives fans the chance to meet the actual young actors who make up the film.

There are also a few features which give back stories into the lives of the characters, how the film was made from rehearsal of the dance scenes to the big screen, etc.

Telling Her Story is a very interesting feature, as it explains how the film went from being a documentary to an actual production.

How She Move is a very energetic film which follows the lead of the young characters to really push the bland story. It has been done before, many times over. Still though, fans of inspirational films such as Save The Last Dance may want to give How She Move a rental.

Film: 7.0

The film is entertaining and energetic, and the young stars do well. The story plot itself has been seen too many times though.

Video: 6.5

The film is not high-budget, thus the video quality is nothing to really blow you away.

Audio: 8.0

A nice audio mix with good effects for the dance scenes, music, and dialogue.

Special Features: 7.5

Some nice features which give good background information on the story, characters, etc.

Final Score: 7.0

Source: www.dbTechno.com