I approach most movies with a jaundiced eye, because most of them activate no thought, creativity or originality. Ultimately this movie has all three of these things, and profound emotion also.
As I started to watch this, it was no exception. I expected it was an attempt by photographer David La Chapelle to associate his name with (and commercialize) the next big dance craze, grab some cross-racial street credibility, and introduce a new fad to push product. La Chapelle may have been attempting that, but the movie did not bring a lot of attention to the movement, or make his name measurably more known. So all bets are off on that front.
But I'm glad the movie was made for offering me an experience I have no prayer of ever participating in. I must admit I fast forwarded over some of the early stuff, where La Chapelle is feeling his way through an unfamiliar format. But the immense creativity that continually issues from poor black cultures, in this case quite sweet & pro-social, is simply astonishing.
By the end of the movie I'd warmed up immensely to the dance-form and even shed some tears over a person named Queneesha Dunford who never made it out of south Central L.A.. How many movies can accomplish that?