Make It Happen (2008)

Embarking on a journey to fulfill her dreams as a dancer, a young girl discovers a new style of dance that will prove to be the source of both conflict and self-discovery.

Director:

Darren Grant

Writers:

Duane Adler (screenplay), Nicole Avril (screenplay),

Stars:

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Tessa Thompson, Riley Smith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead	...	Lauryn
Tessa Thompson	...	Dana
Riley Smith	...	Russ
John Reardon	...	Joel
Julissa Bermudez	...	Carmen
Ashley Roberts	...	Brooke
Karen LeBlanc	...	Brenda
Matt Kippen	...	Wayne
Erik Fjeldsted	...	Marty - Mechanic
Aaron Merke	...	Clay - Mechanic
Leigh Enns	...	Flirtatious Customer
Christina Grace	...	Female Dancer - Auditions (as Christina Grace SY)
Debbie Patterson	...	Audition Receptionist
Sofia Costantini	...	Choreographer's Assistant
Jeremy Koz	...	Cool Looking Guy

Storyline

Lauryn is a girl from Indiana who wants to be a dancer. So she tries to audition for a dance school in Chicago, when she fails to impress them. They tell her to come back for the second audition which will be in a few weeks and to also try to do something different. But in the meantime, after her car gets towed and not wanting to return to Indiana; to her brother, who doesn't exactly support her, she gets a job at a burlesque club. And while there she discovers a different kind of dance.

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Plot Keywords:

burlesque | legs

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Taglines:

Hear The Music. Feel The Beat.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [au] Official site [be]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 August 2008 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Untitled Bille Woodruff Project

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£505,820 (UK) (8 August 2008)

Gross:

£1,147,470 (UK) (15 August 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mayhem Project, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The umbrella dance was originally planned with water dropping down like rain, with the girls dancing in water, splashing it around with their dance moves. However, the idea was scraped due to the fact that it would be too easy for the girls to fall while shooting the scene.

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Goofs

In the scene were Lauren dances onstage at Ruby's for the first time, as she goes into her starting pose, she realizes that she is too fair to the left (viewer's left, her right) of the stage and adjusts herself so her silhouette (outline) is right in the middle of the sliding stage door (at the line where the doors meet). However, in the very next shot her silhouette is now to the right (viewer's right) of the middle/door split.

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Quotes

Carmen: Maybe he was upset cos you were so bad.
Brooke: Ease off Carmen, she was killing it.

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Connections

References Flashdance (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Bottoms Up"
Performed by Keke Palmer

User Reviews

mixed feelings about this one

I have to be honest, I watched this movie for 2 reasons One: a small portion of the movie was taped in my local city. I wanted to check out how the landmarks where used in the movie (the mechanical shop, the bridge and the club where some landmarks that I recognized), which I should add was done really well. Second: In the past I have enjoyed dance movies. This movie is way to similar to "Save the last Dance" basically because I have seen "Save the last Dance" I knew basically what was going to happen in this movie. Besides being a copycat movie I would say Make it happen is an entertaining family movie but not as entertaining as Darren Grants other movies I have seen. I will recommend this movie to my teen aged nieces as the target age would be 21 and under.