Review by Steve Rhodes
1 star out of 4
An 8 MILE wannabe, Chris Stokes's YOU GOT SERVED follows the world of
competitive street dancing (think break dancing). During the ten percent of
the movie when the actors are dancing to loud, ear shattering music, the movie
comes briefly into its own. The dancing is so repetitive -- and the editing so
overdone -- that it can't sustain much more than a few music videos' worth of
time so the movie has to be padded out. And I do mean padded.
Unlike 8 MILE, which has something to say when it isn't rapping, YOU GOT SERVED
falls back on a very tired story line that is a mixture of a lame sitcom and a
clich‚d melodrama. It is one of the most forgettable scripts in some time,
filled with recycled lines such as, "Ouch girl, he's hot," and "It's about more
than the money."
The dancers have talent, rhythm and energy, but, when the movie isn't dancing,
it's dead. When one character said "We need to end this now!" I felt like
standing up and applauding wildly.
The movie does have one unintentional joke. The formulaic film ends, of
course, in a big competition between rival groups. The contest's name? The
Big Bounce -- the same name as an even worse film than opens on the same day as
YOU GOT SERVED. With just three movies opening this week -- the perfectly
awful THE PERFECT SCORE is the third -- this week gets the worst marks in years
for the collective quality of the week's openings. It makes you yearn for the
golden month of December when good movies come fast and furiously. I recommend
strongly that you furiously avoid them all and stick to the Super Bowl. Even
its commercials will be better than this week's films.
YOU GOT SERVED runs a very long 1:33. The film is rated PG-13 for "thematic
elements and sexual references" and would be acceptable for kids around 11 and
up.
Copyright © 2004 Steve Rhodes
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out of 4
