Body Moves

Rivals Rico (Kirk Rivera) and Kevin (Steve Messina) compete at everything from dragstripping to disco dancing. Poor, hard-working and a naturally sensuous dancer, Rico heads a merry ethnic crew who fancy themselves as the best high-steppers in town. Rich, preppie-ish, dance-feverish Kevin and his spoiled followers have the big bucks it takes to rent rehearsal space and buy state-of-the-art cassette players, etc. Who will win the upcoming dance competition? Will double turns and splits replace rumbling? The stakes are high when a fella's self-respect hinges on who has the best pelvic thrust.

Throwing her tired bones into this cross-cultural warfare is Kevin's younger sister Nancy (Linsley Allen), who's recuperating from a serious accident by studying dance with a choreographer who just happens to be training the barrio brats. After Kevin's snooty friends jeer at her, Nancy becomes a traitor to her class and begs for acceptance from the underprivileged dance group--without revealing her identity to them. Although she has a crush on Rico, he only has eyes for saucy Myra (Dianne Granger), who is much admired by class snob Kevin, who overlooks his prejudices each time Myra moves her chassis.

On the dance floor, these juvenile passions intersect. As tempers and nostrils flare, Kevin pays up the dance teacher's overdue rent in exchange for booting out Rico from her studio. Determined to not cave in to Kevin's dirty tricks, Rico and his dancers rehearse in an auto pound. Although Kevin reveals his sister's blueblood roots, the ethnic terpsichoreans forgive her, which is more than hot-blooded Rico does when he learns Myra is two-timing him with Kevin. Shockingly, social dance taboos are broken as Kevin dumps his socialite partner for penniless Myra, and Nancy is swept up in Rico's arms. Will Nancy's poor health be able to stand the strain of the upcoming dance duel? Performing their hearts out, both the humble Rico-ettes and the over-privileged dance troupe twist and turn and jetee as never before. A tie is declared. Choreography heals all wounds, even those of class conflict.

Since it is obvious to any viewer with a sense of rhythm that the ghetto movers and groovers dance much better than the upper-crust dancers, the upbeat ending of BODY MOVES amounts to a real fizzle. So is the rest of this movie which is unlikely to appeal to teens conditioned by glitz and glossy production values; this musical would not meet the standards of an MTV video. Shot on a shredded shoe-string, the film features forgettable music, muddy photography and some of the shoddiest sound recording imaginable.

The film also showcases some dancers who are a bit long-in-the-tooth to be portraying adolescents, particularly Linsley Allen. Since mature audiences will be unenthused by the insipid plot and by the derivative pop-disco dance sounds, it is hard to guage whom this film was intended for. The dance sequences do generate some steamy sex appeal, but the choreography becomes tiresomely repetitive by the climactic showdown. And these dance-conscious teens exhibit the discernment and maturity of petulant gradeschoolers fighting over their playground rights.

The one inarguable virtue of BODY MOVES is the contribution of Dianne Granger, who moves like a dream and lights up the screen with charisma. Watching her, one loses interest in the other cast members. Overall, BODY MOVES is a musical that only its cast and their parents could enjoy. (Mild violence, profanity, nudity.) leave a comment