High Strung: Desafío de cuerdas

I am a sucker for a good dance movie, and in my opinion, this falls into that category. Is it cheesy and predictable? Yes, but not quite as cheesy and predictable as some. The acting was decent, but the violin playing and dancing was fantastic! The last dance movie I enjoyed this much was Center Stage back in 2000. If you liked Center Stage, you'll like High Strung!

You know how people say about musicals "oh, it's just a bunch of singing for no reason?" This is that, but dancing and violin.

First, the pros: The movie was visually very nice (except for the choice to include strobing lights, which people should really stop doing). The dance sequences were amazing and fun. The climax involved a plot point I didn't see coming. The characters of the hip hop group are great (especially Pop-Tart). The protagonist is likable. There's this whole Fame vibe going on with the Manhattan conservatory. Jane Seymour is in it.

Cons:

Johnnie is terrible, and at no point did I want Ruby to end up with him. The movie wants to give us dark and brooding, but instead he either : 1. is outright rude to Ruby 2. Comes on EXTREMELY strong, in a very creepy way. They also have no chemistry. The lead dancer in the troupe, Hayward, has more chemistry with Ruby in the few minutes they're on screen together than Johnnie and Ruby do in the whole movie, to the point that I briefly rooted for Hayward and Ruby to kiss.

The dance sequences are all long and basically don't move the plot, at least one lacks explanation (although to some extent the inexplicability was something that kept me going). This movie has very little plot.

The whole plot with the roommate, Jazzy, is never really explained or settled (were we supposed to take that whole thing at face value? That ending felt way too neat, in real life there would definitely be an underlying reason why she did what she did). The movie couldn't quite keep up with the amount of characters it had.

There's a point where two women giggle and squeal and hit each other with pillows, which... look, I haven't met every woman in the world, but grown women who have just met usually don't behave this way.

Watch if you want to watch some really cool dancing, skip if you want to watch a movie for the plot.

At first I wasn't sure about this movie. The story took a while to catch on but after that I really enjoyed the music and the dancing. The last scene is worth a second viewing just to catch all that is going on.

Overall, great music, great dancing, acting is OK. If you want a feel good movie- this is it.

What a gem of a film. I wasn't expecting much when I hit the 'Play' button, but as I kept watching, I was surprised at how good it turned out to be. It was predictable at times and yet I found myself still rooting for the main characters. Have you ever started watching a movie and during the opening credits, you start scrolling through your cell phone? That's what I did in the beginning. After hearing the music, I looked up, put my cell phone down and stared enjoying the scenery in the 1st few minutes. I was hooked after that. If you have seen a lot of dance movies (Step-up, Save the Last Dance, Stomp the Yard) I suggest you give this film a chance. It might surprise you, like it did me.

I don't know why this movie was not advertised and obviously only shown in a few theaters. We never heard of it and stumbled across it on Netflix and had to buy it online. The music in this movie excellent. It is beautiful composed and Johnnie really looses himself in the music. Johnnie plays the violin with a passion that is breathtaking. Ruby's dance is wonderful and she has that innocent Femme Fatale down pat. The dance off in the subway between two rivaling dance teams was unexpected, but I found them to be better dancers than the main dance team living below Johnnie. The final dance sequence is emotionally charged and one of the best I have ever seen. This movie can easily hold its own with any other dance movie our there. A must watch!