"Dippy but engaging"
A troubled New York teenager peps up a traumatised Midwestern town with his DJ-ing skills in dippy but engaging dance-music drama Bravetown (aka Strings).
After a drug overdose, Lucas Till's angry Josh gets sent by the courts to live with his estranged father in a North Dakota town that has lost many of its young to war. He's initially surly with everyone - including his laid-back drug counsellor (Josh Duhamel) and beautiful dancer Mary (Kherington Payne) - but after reluctantly agreeing to put some zip into the his new high school's lacklustre dance team with his techno music, he begins to raise the town's spirits and transform his own life.
At first, Bravetown's combination of teen-musical clichés and sober drama seems wildly jarring. Yet as the story unfolds the mix surprisingly gels. In the end, the movie's faith in the healing properties of dance turns out to be surprisingly stirring. And the team's routines have plenty of verve, as well.
Certificate 15. Runtime 114 mins. Director Daniel Duran
Bravetown debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on 12 March and is available on Digital Download from Under the Milky Way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsCxy9N_gTM
