With her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina decimated by the accidental death of her mother, Sara Johnson (Stiles) is forced to move from her quiet Midwestern town to her father's ghetto apartment on the south side of Chicago. The stark urban environment's contrast of race and class compound Sara's loss and her misplaced guilt, which are both exacerbated by the fact that her mother had been en route to her dance performance at the time of her death. But when she meets Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), a popular black student with a passion for hip hop and a future brighter than his troubled past, her repressed ambition and sorrow are released through a revitalized interest in the cathartic and expressive power of dance. Their friendship and mutual interest in dancing inexorably lead to a passionate romance that raises the sadly typical, bigoted resistance from Sara's white father and Derek's black friends.
Critic Reviews:
- " Performances throughout are solidly decent. " – Susannah Breslin (Film Threat)
- " Likeable teen romance that overcomes its inevitable predictability thanks to its talented cast and its avoidance of both clichs and syrupy sentimentality. " – Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
- " The leads shine and the relationship really grew on me. There's not much more to ask for in a movie like this. " – Mark Dujsik (Mark Reviews Movies)