Turn the Beat around - DVD

Film: Young Zoe (Romina D`Ugo) has a big dream to become famous as a dancer. An important step in this direction could be the rich club owner Michael (David Giuntol). Because he is very fond of Zoe's idea to revive the disco era in his new club. But Zoe's big idol, successful dancer Malika (Brooklyn Sudano) is equally unimpressed with the girl's zeal, as is Zoe's jealous boyfriend Chris (Adam T. Brooks). And so their efforts to work out new choreography based on old moves to disco classics are repeatedly sabotaged by personal drama and competitive battles. But Zoe is not so easily dissuaded from her dream.

Turn the Beat around, named after the hit song by Gloria Estefan, was made for the music channel MTV and directed by TV director Bradley Walsh, who was behind the camera for the popular teen series One Tree Hill, among others. The fact that the film shows its TV origin may sound negative at first. The dance sequences can't really keep up with the elaborately staged choreography of movies like Step Up 3D or Streetdance. On the other hand, what stands out very positively is that it's not about battles, like in the cinema dance movies of the last years, but about a kind of dancing that expresses joie de vivre and is just supposed to be fun. This also makes the characters seem somehow more sympathetic and the story as a whole nicer.

Great acting performances should not be expected here either, though, as well as profound dialogues or a multi-layered plot. Hardly a cliché is left out and the outcome of the story is actually already foreseeable after the opening credits. However, Walsh doesn't even try to make more out of his work than a simple dance movie. Unlike Honey 2, which was unbearably and unnecessarily drawn out, Turn the Beat around gets down to business quickly and doesn't dwell on any side stories for long. The story is simple, clearly structured and the dancing and the music are the main focus. And that's exactly what makes the film surprisingly entertaining.

It may be that the homage to disco music and the lack of dance battles will strike young dance film fans as negative. But the attractive cast, a guest appearance by Jason Derulo, and choreography worth watching might make up for that shortcoming. Certainly not a masterpiece, but a bottom line quite entertaining TV movie that serves its target audience well.

Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the film can definitely be called good. The picture is clean and sharp, and in terms of sound, the danceable soundtrack in particular comes across very well. Good!

Extras: The barely 10-minute making of is not much more than a promotional film equipped with many film clips and the six minutes of cut scenes are quite irrelevant. In addition there is a trailer and further program tips of the offerer.

Conclusion: Turn the Beat around is a nice little dance film, which has to offer less spectacular choreography than the numerous dance battles of the last months, which have been held in the cinema. But the production is appealing and entertaining, the actors attractive and the dance scenes neatly staged. Thus, this TV production can definitely satisfy its intended target audience, which ultimately earns the DVD a recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp