Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Marques Houston, Omari Grandberry, Jarell Houston
Director: Chris Stokes
Elgin (Marques Houston) and David (Omari Grandberry) are two young teenagers growing up in the hood with very good dancing skills, they have been friends for as long as they have known each other, always there for one other more like brothers than friends. They lead a team of top dancers who are seemingly unbeatable until they are duped into placing $5000 on themselves to duel with this other upcoming team only to have their whole array of new dance moves betrayed by one of their very own.
To supplement their dwindling funds the two friends are drawn in to becoming delivery boys for the local hoodlum. Alas on one fateful night Elgin is jacked by some thugs whilst his partner David is busy spending some quality time with Elgin’s sister. This infuriates Elgin so much as he now not only has no money for himself but he also owes the local hoodlum a whole lot of money, and as to be expected when it comes to baby sister brothers can be extremely over protective, and Elgin proves to be no exception to the rule.
Elgin and David fall out, then an opportunity to really make it big comes along in the form of a dancing competition with a big financial reward, but as neither friend is willing to work with the other they opt to set up their own individual dancing groups. The pressure mounts as each team builds up the momentum to get ready to compete in the contest, but in the semi finals David’s team fails to make it and it now seems that Elgin is all set to make it big on his own terms with his own team. As always things do not always go according to plan and as disaster strikes David and Elgin’s lives they must now choose to either revive their inspiring friendship or close that door forever.
YOU GOT SERVED delivers what it says on the can, it has got great dancing sequences, hot young girls and boys, a great soundtrack but unfortunately it has been done before in that sense. Although in this film there is a fresh spin on the old overcome adversity’ yarn by dancing because here the good guys themselves fall out and as such there is not really a central bad guy to blame for everything.
The performances from the two leads are surprisingly good and highlight two very promising actors as they switch from bosom buddies to arch enemies. The supporting cast are all more than adequate enough to help carry the film through.
Overall this an excellent yet undemanding story with a good message that should please its teenage target audience immensely even though it does prove to be a bit too stereotypical with the token elderly, ailing grandmothers, local gangsters and so on. None the less it is still worth a glance for a quick adrenaline boost of dance and hip hop/R&B – definitely worth seeing.
