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Movie Review

Gotta Dance (Together)

Derek Hough and BoA in Duane Adler’s “Make Your Move.”Credit...High Top Releasing
Make Your Move
Directed by Duane Adler
Drama, Musical, Romance
PG-13
1h 50m

O.K., it’s not Montagues and Capulets, it’s rival Brooklyn dance clubs: the gritty, underground Static and the more upper-crust Oto. The star-crossed lovers are Donny (Derek Hough), a street dancer and parolee from New Orleans, and Aya (the South Korean pop star BoA), a Korean dancer-drummer raised in Japan. Static’s owner is Donny’s foster brother, Nick (Wesley Jonathan), who had a falling-out with his partner, Kaz (Will Yun Lee of “Hawaii Five-O”), Aya’s overprotective brother. Kaz went to work at Oto, which is owned by the Wall Street knave Michael (Jefferson Brown), who has designs on Aya and wants her at his beck and call.

Nobody wants Donny and Aya to hook up. But — but — there’s dancing to do!

Duane Adler, the writer of “Step Up” and “Save the Last Dance,” capably directs “Make Your Move,” a soapy, flashy confection that juxtaposes Mr. Hough’s tap dancing with the Japanese drumming style Taiko, tossed with liberal helpings of contemporary hip-hop moves. Mr. Hough, a “Dancing With the Stars” champion, impresses with his footwork and sufficiently fulfills his romantic-lead duties. BoA is cute and appealingly impudent, but a bit more remote.

On the floor, however, their chemistry ignites. And when Aya expresses her gratitude that Donny doesn’t try to control her, the movie’s heart is in the right place. Tragedy? Not at all.

“Make Your Move” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Language, drug and sexual references, brief violence and prurient tap dancing. 

Opens on Friday. Directed by Duane Adler 1 hour 50 minutes

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Make Your Move. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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