Stomp the Yard

Stars: Columbus Short, Meagan Good, Darrin Henson, Brian White, Laz Alonso, Valarie Pettiford, Allan Louis

Director: Sylvain White

It's step dancing time again, as DJ (Short), a troubled youth from LA, fleeing from an unjust conviction after an affray in which his brother was killed by the disgruntled losers of a dance contest, lands up (by lying) at Truth University in Georgia, where steppin' rivalry between two of the (black) fraternities makes him a natural recruit.

Straightway though, DJ courts the campus beauty (Good), who's not only the girlfriend of star stepper Grant (Henson), but also the daughter of the Dean (Louis). With such ultimatums as 'If you don't come to your senses, you're going to lose out on me', however, Grant soon drives her into DJ's arms. But the truth about his conviction comes out, and Grant sees to it that the Dean gets to know.

The plot then lurches from one ludicrous development to another. The Dean offers to reinstate the suspended DJ, but 'if you don't stop seeing my daughter, you can kiss your education goodbye.' Yeah, right.

By the time it turns out that the aunt (Pettiford), with whom DJ is staying, jilted the Dean when they were students, you'll be howling for the (brilliant) dance finale so's you can all go home. But, as a combination of breakdancing, hip-hop and stepping, the dance floor sequences are different class from the rest of a very silly film.

David Quinlan

USA 2006. UK Distributor: Sony (Screen Gems). Colour by De Luxe.
114 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 11 Mar 2007