High Strung Free Dance

Michael Damian's follow-up to 2016's Free Dance has such a polished look that it feels more like a long-form music video more than a feature film, but there are worse crimes against cinema. If anything, the slightly artificial quality seems intentional, since the modern-day musical presents an idealized look at the artistic life, like La La Land on a more modest budget. As it begins, delicately-pretty Barlow (Juliet Doherty) is a telemarketer who longs to make it as a dancer, and tousled-hair Charlie (Harry Jarvis) is a delivery boy who longs to make it as a pianist. When Barlow becomes part of the corps for Free Dance, the hot new Broadway show, she's on her way. Her mother, Oksana (Free Dance's Jane Seymour), a dance instructor, is thrilled. When Charlie gets a gig with a swing band that the show's petulant director, Zander (The Descendents' Thomas Doherty), happens to attend, he uses the opportunity to audition for Free Dance (Zander also hits him with his car, one coincidence too many). Soon, the uncritically-injured Charlie becomes the show's pianist. Along the way, he befriends Rose (Kika Markham), a shut-in who lets him use her piano. While he's making a new friend, Barlow does the same when she moves into an apartment with other dancers. Naturally, the show brings Charlie and Barlow together, except she's now seeing Zander, who has a history with Kayla, the marquee-name performer. Most everyone will see the end coming from a mile away, but the story is zippy and the dancing, a combination of styles from classical ballet to Bollywood, keeps things humming along. A strong optional selection. (K. Fennessy)