Any documentary that shows how young people are being given a chance to better themselves through special programs comes through as both inspirational and depressing. Those behind such programs can never receive enough praise for the work being done in communities across the country. This is just tainted with a sense of melancholy that it takes special programs for such change to happen.
Children should always be a priority, but they aren't, and that's when programs like the one spotlighted in "Step" by director Amanda Lipitz try to fill the voids.
Lipitz, a Broadway producer making her filmmaking debut, focus her cameras on three seniors who will be part of the first graduating class at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women. The main purpose of the program is to make sure that all who graduate will go to college. The young women not only have financial and educational barriers to climb to accomplish this goal, they are living in a time of deep social unrest following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody in April 2015.
The director uses the political and social turmoil as a backdrop for telling both the stories of how the women are dealing with college applications and being part of the schools competitive step dance program. If you are not familiar with step, it's what a cappella performances would be if it had been invented by the military.
Struggles with academics and competitions are shared by the seniors and their parents, teammates, coaches, friends, families and teachers. Of the three seniors at the heart of the film, Blessin Giraldo is struggling the most. She's shown her abilities as a leader having started the step team when she was in the eighth grade, but her academic accomplishments have not been as fruitful. It's going to take some last-minute work, determination and luck if she is to be able to attend college. To make matters tougher, she must find a way to succeed while dealing with her mother's battle with anger issues and depression.
The majority of Giraldo's support comes from the school's new step coach, Gari McIntyre, whose background is very similar to the members of her team. Also pushing the struggling senior is college counselor Paula Dofat who wants to make sure Giraldo doesn't become another statistic of failure.
Cori Granger and Tayla Solomon are on a more stable course. The biggest worry for Granger is whether her family will be able to find a way to financially support her college dreams. Solomon's often dealing with the embarrassment she feels because of her overly enthusiastic mother.
The simple fact Lipitz has drawn attention to a program that's working is reason enough to applaud "Step." It earns high points for good intentions but it would have scored much higher if Lipitz had not taken such a standard approach to the story, the kind of mistake a rookie makes.
This is a very linear tale covering less than a year in the lives of these three young women. Lipitz knew about this program since 2009 when she and her mother, Brenda Brown Rever, were part of the founding of the school. The documentary would have had a much deeper texture if the three subjects had been followed from their first day to graduation.
Lipitz also shows a passiveness that never bodes well for a documentary. The killing of Gray happened after she started filming but what should have been a powerful force in the thinking and actions of the seniors but comes across as a little distant. The elements are there and a more seasoned filmmaker would have capitalized on the power of the time frame better.
There also seems a little reluctance on the director's part to show her three subjects in too much of a negative light. In one scene, Giraldo reveals in a deeply emotional moment how there is no food in the house and her nephew is going to go to bed hungry. No mention is made of how much money was being spent by Giraldo to pay for the endless supply of beauty aids she uses throughout the film. Lipitz lets that matter slip by.
These are minor problems that aren't unexpected with a new filmmaker. Her passion to show what can happen when women of all generations focus on one goal is a tale that should be shouted on every street corner. Lipitz succeeds but it just should be shouted with a few more details. That was the one area where the director needed to step up.
