This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This feel-good, come-from-behind movie is refreshing and the two protagonists are attractive and appealing, while their antagonist is a jerk. If you presume the outcome will be positive the twists in the story are predictable but not shocking. The retrieval of the beloved violin at the very end evokes the memory of Johnnie's deceased father, about whom nothing is ever told. Since Galitzine is from a family of Russian aristocrats who fled to England after the Russian Revolution maybe the father could be famous, but who knows? The roommate Jasmine seems to be an afterthought, and why bother to have her involved with a druggie? Likewise the scam-lawyer immigration scam seems contrived, but it moves the story along.It's a pity the film chose to perpetuate the '80s image of the New York City subway system, with graffiti-covered cars. New York MTA does not allow movies shot in the city to be depicted that way, and the subway scenes are patently not there. The illusion of New York is done pretty well, though, although the Inwood loft is not convincing because first of all those lofts do not exist in Inwood and second of all where they do exist the rents are beyond what an undocumented alien could afford. The Manhattan School of Music doubles pretty well as the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts. Shooting the music and dance scenes in Bucharest must have saved a bundle, but it should have been done with New York studio performers. Johnnie does appear actually to be playing the violin himself, without simulation.

This is the ultimate music and movement movie. Ballet, Modern, Classical, Hip Hop, Irish Step Dancing, Break Dancing...this movie has it all. And if you like the violin then you will not be disappointed. This movie has an amazing violin duel. And there is romance and some physical fighting to round out the entertainment experience. Plenty of action and good character development. I love this movie. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it 5 emojis.😎😎😎😎😎

I saw the trailer and it was of the genre i liked and so i thought, why not, let's give it a try. I knew going in that it would similar to all the dance movies that i have seen but boy oh boy i was disappointed. The lead male tries to play an angry guy but utterly fails. It is a big competition with 25 grand prize money and scholarship but only three teams enter it (sign me in the next one dude) :P Even in center stage turn it up we saw how big the competition was.... The room mate is very badly depicted. One minute she is continuously partying the next minute she is all redeemed after hearing that all we dancers do is dance, lol. I can write a better script than that guys. And the dance crew had no ambitions? It's like they were all sleeping and one day someone said you should enter this competition and they just accepted. I mean making a name for themselves shouldn't they be on the look out for these sort of events in the first place? And how does the lead actor even get the gig? I mean shouldn't it be university students only or such. Even step up had to show that the guy was spending his community service hours. And the crew did not go to the university either. The acting, the directing all of it sucks. You would do well to avoid this one. I assure you i am a fan of these dance movies and even i consider my time wasted by this one. Save the 96 minutes.

This is one of those movies that make you look at the cast & crew list to see if the actors and directors/producers are related because there is no way that his movie is actually good. At all.As another review said, these "poor" dance school kids live in ridiculous lofts in Manhattan. I mean gorgeous. And even the ones with multiple teens living in them are spotless. Seriously, they would be cramped dark and filthy if this were true to form.There's a scene with a West Side Story wannabe dance "fight". Even the subway platform that this took place on had floors so clean and shiny, there's no way anyone ever urinated on them. Smh. The acting was atrocious, the music playing was truly horrifying at time. The only reason I am giving this 4 stars and not 1 is because I think the downstairs dancers were pretty good.It was a really poor version of a compilation of Save the Last Dance, Step Up, and Stomp the Yard.Final note: this may just be an homage to the fact the the main female character, ruby, can pull her leg past her head. Because she does that gratuitously and often. Ugh.