You Got Served (PG-13) ★★½

Defunct boy band B2K hits the big screen as an urban dance crew competing for a big cash prize. The film's sappy story and its amateurish performances are redeemed thanks to some jaw-dropping dance acts.

Story

Best friends David (Omarion) and Elgin (Marques Houston) earn a living dancing in competitions against rival dance crews in a local warehouse owned by Mr. Rad (Steve Harvey), who keeps the challenges clean and organized. Basking in their recurring success, David and Elgin are approached by an Orange County crew for a dance-off with a bigger payday than they are accustomed to: $10,000. The only catch is that they would have to put up half that money in advance, which they scrape up at the last minute thanks to Elgin's grandmother. But the OC crew plays dirty, steals their moves and wins the competition, leaving David and Elgin with a huge debt to repay. To come up with the dough, they become runners for a local drug dealer--a job that doesn't pay off when Elgin gets robbed and beaten while transporting a large sum of money. He blames David for the attack, since his buddy was too busy cozying up to his Princeton-bound sister Liyah (Jennifer Freeman) to have his back. Now, the only way Elgin can repay his grandmother and the dealer is to win ''The Big Bounce,'' an MTV-sponsored dance competition with a $50,000 purse. But Elgin and David's falling-out threatens their shot at the big time.

Acting

The majority of the cast in You Got Served are onetime members of the boy band B2K (an acronym for Boys For 2000), an R&B quartet that includes Lil' Fizz, J-Boog, Raz-B, and Omarion. Houston, a solo artist whose single ''Smile'' is included on the film's soundtrack, is Omarion's older brother and, with recurring role on UPN's Sister, Sister, is probably their only castmate with any real acting experience. That seems to have helped Houston, however, whose character Elgin has the most emotional range of the bunch: Sweet, funny, bitter, angry and at times apologetic. His co-star Omarion goes over the top with the puppy-dog-face thing, but let's face it, teenage girls across America will swoon over just that. But despite some amateurish performances, it is apparent that these heartthrobs did not take themselves or their roles too seriously, and their lighthearted performances make their characters so darn likeable. More to the point, the performances in this film depend more heavily on the dancing than the acting, and in that department both Houston and Omarion thrive. The film also features Harvey in a demure role that doesn't do anything for the comic actor, and cameo appearances from Lil' Kim and hottie Wade Robson. But the prize for the most irritating performance of all goes to MTV VJ LaLa, who plays herself as ''The Big Bounce'' host and whose shrieky voice will have you scrounging in your pockets for aspirin.

Direction

Chris Stokes makes his directing and screenwriting debut with You Got Served, and giving members of the B2K hip-hop ensemble starring roles makes sense; after all, he was the band's manager. While this casting choice was weak in terms of acting, it was a solid pick in terms of the film's dance theme, not to mention fan fare. Although B2K split up last month, the group still has a stranglehold over the young ladies. Besides, it's a given that moviegoers aren't expecting great performances or a gripping tale from You Got Served, just some awesome dancing, which is where this film really delivers. Sure, some scenes belong on the editing room floor, especially one in which David and Elgin practice their latest moves shirtless in an alley at night during a rainstorm. But with dance sequences making up more than three-quarters of the film, it still moves along at a fast pace and is surprisingly entertaining. The film's amateurism, however, rears its bopping head when scenes stray from these awe-inspiring dancing sequences. In these instances, the dire acting skills of its young cast and the sappy dialogue become more obvious, not to mention the director's overuse of fade-outs from scene to scene; you'll half be expecting a commercial break.

Bottom Line

You Got Served may be a crudely acted, elementary story, but it's almost impossible not to be impressed by the film's dance numbers, artistically choreographed blends of breakdancing, b-boying and head-spinning.