Channing Tatum struts his stuff in "Step Up." Click photo for larger image.

Someone's been thumbing through the Big Book of Movie Cliches again. (It really should be kept under lock and key.) That's the only way to explain "Step Up," a film with:

An undeniable attraction between a poor boy and a privileged girl.

A girl with a widowed parent who doesn't support her desire to dance, dance, dance instead of going to college.

A supporting character who might as well be wearing a flashing sign declaring, "Not long for this world, not long for this world."

A teenage boy who is sentenced to community service at the very place that will change his life and, for the first time, give him hope and the ability to ... dream.

That same teen who will tiptoe into a new life, angering the bad-boy friends he's leaving behind. But, wait, could the bad-boy friends be converted to seeing the value of a new way of life?

		'Step Up' Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, brief violence and innuendo. Starring: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan. Director: Anne Fletcher. Trailer: A look at the new release now in theaters Web site: http://www.myspace.com/stepupmovie

I could go on, and on, as the movie does, for an hour and 45 minutes.

It's not that "Step Up" sends bad messages to its young audience -- it promotes making amends, fighting for what you want, believing in yourself, having a never-ending supply of fashionable dance togs and if you're a male dancer, being strong enough to lift your partner. It's just "Step Up" has not a shred of originality.

Will that matter to your average tween? Nah.

"Step Up" stars Channing Tatum from "She's the Man" as Tyler, a Baltimore foster kid who pals around with a couple of brothers, Mac (Damaine Radcliff ) and Skinny (De'Shawn Washington).

They party a little, steal cars and, one fateful night, accidentally break a window at the Maryland School of the Arts and sneak inside. When they are caught vandalizing the theater, only Tyler is arrested and sentenced to 200 hours of community service.

At the school, run by a snobbish director (Rachel Griffiths), Tyler meets an aspiring dancer named Nora (Jenna Dewan), who finds herself in need of a rehearsal partner for the big senior showcase. She's a ballerina and he's a hip-hop dancer, and they seem like a perfect pair until the usual problems surface.

In addition to Tatum, who talks with a street accent worthy of a Wahlberg, and Dewan, the cast includes R&B artist Mario, hip-hop Grammy nominee Heavy D, Chicago performer Drew Sidora, Josh Henderson and Alyson Stoner.

"Step Up," directed by choreographer Anne Fletcher, has lots of teen spirit and attractive young stars but is hobbled by always taking the predictable path set by "Fame," "Flashdance," "Save the Last Dance," "Honey," "Take the Lead" and others. It's as if the dance steps were painted on the floor, and everyone places his or her feet and plots as ordered.