Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

kaparz You know how people say about musicals "oh, it's just a bunch of singing for no reason?" This is that, but dancing and violin.First, the pros: The movie was visually very nice (except for the choice to include strobing lights, which people should really stop doing). The dance sequences were amazing and fun. The climax involved a plot point I didn't see coming. The characters of the hip hop group are great (especially Pop-Tart). The protagonist is likable. There's this whole Fame vibe going on with the Manhattan conservatory. Jane Seymour is in it.Cons: Johnnie is terrible, and at no point did I want Ruby to end up with him. The movie wants to give us dark and brooding, but instead he either : 1. is outright rude to Ruby 2. Comes on EXTREMELY strong, in a very creepy way. They also have no chemistry. The lead dancer in the troupe, Hayward, has more chemistry with Ruby in the few minutes they're on screen together than Johnnie and Ruby do in the whole movie, to the point that I briefly rooted for Hayward and Ruby to kiss.The dance sequences are all long and basically don't move the plot, at least one lacks explanation (although to some extent the inexplicability was something that kept me going). This movie has very little plot.The whole plot with the roommate, Jazzy, is never really explained or settled (were we supposed to take that whole thing at face value? That ending felt way too neat, in real life there would definitely be an underlying reason why she did what she did). The movie couldn't quite keep up with the amount of characters it had. There's a point where two women giggle and squeal and hit each other with pillows, which... look, I haven't met every woman in the world, but grown women who have just met usually don't behave this way. Watch if you want to watch some really cool dancing, skip if you want to watch a movie for the plot.

Rick James This feel-good, come-from-behind movie is refreshing and the two protagonists are attractive and appealing, while their antagonist is a jerk. If you presume the outcome will be positive the twists in the story are predictable but not shocking. The retrieval of the beloved violin at the very end evokes the memory of Johnnie's deceased father, about whom nothing is ever told. Since Galitzine is from a family of Russian aristocrats who fled to England after the Russian Revolution maybe the father could be famous, but who knows? The roommate Jasmine seems to be an afterthought, and why bother to have her involved with a druggie? Likewise the scam-lawyer immigration scam seems contrived, but it moves the story along.It's a pity the film chose to perpetuate the '80s image of the New York City subway system, with graffiti-covered cars. New York MTA does not allow movies shot in the city to be depicted that way, and the subway scenes are patently not there. The illusion of New York is done pretty well, though, although the Inwood loft is not convincing because first of all those lofts do not exist in Inwood and second of all where they do exist the rents are beyond what an undocumented alien could afford. The Manhattan School of Music doubles pretty well as the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts. Shooting the music and dance scenes in Bucharest must have saved a bundle, but it should have been done with New York studio performers. Johnnie does appear actually to be playing the violin himself, without simulation.

TxMike My wife and I watched this at home on Netflix streaming. She is a ballet dancer on scholarship in NYC, he plays violin in the subway for handouts.I didn't know who Keenan Kampa was before seeing this movie but afterwards I found out she not only has been dancing since very young, she has won many competitions and for a few years studied and excelled in ballet in Russia, a very difficult accomplishment for an American girl from Virginia. So she is primarily a dancer but very pretty and also an upcoming actress. Here she is Ruby, not really sure of how good she is. One day in the subway as she heads home she encounters this young man playing violin for cash. It is clear that he is very accomplished but also angry. To add to his woes he has been giving cash to a man who says he is a lawyer and can get him a visa, but the lawyer's card is fake and the $5000 is gone.The young man is Londoner Nicholas Galitzine as Johnnie. He comes around eventually and accepts Ruby's friendship, they perform together in a Strings and Dance competition. Somewhat predictable story with many cliché' characters and situations but overall we enjoyed it, a nicely entertaining movie.

emiliecox Full of drama, tension, romance and talent, this film has given me shivers from the very beginning. I have never fell more in love with the characters then in this movie. The actors did not have much experience which is what I have concluded my research to. But during their acts in the film, they have not even given me the hint that they weren't. The hip-hop violin theme that is represented is very original and gives a complete different image of classical arts. As the two themes combine (classical and hip-hop), the story fills itself up with tension and talent. I do hope for those actors, musicians and actors greatness in their futures as they deserve it.