You Got Served (2004)

Street dancing (or what Reagan-era children like me used to call break dancing) is half sport, half art; a duality that makes it fascinating for about 15 minutes -- and a little exhausting for the remaining 78 it takes You Got Served to tie up its perfunctory Cinderella story line.

At their best, the hood-raised underdogs at stage center, led by fractious friends David and Elgin (hip-hop artists and close friends Omari Grandberry and Marques Houston), unleash their dance talents in the form of mini-theater pieces punctuated by breathtaking feats of strength. (''Matrix''-like slo-mo moves are accomplished without wires or computers -- it's like turbocharged yoga.) But this degenerates into monotonous crotch-thrusting, move-busting swagger -- an extended commercial for the performers' surly virtuosity.

Meanwhile, David and Elgin must settle some highly scripted differences and win ''just enough money to change our lives'' in (yup) a climactic contest. The story is so bored with itself, it collapses -- but the diverse troupe of dance talents at least makes it an eclectic slide.

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