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

"Push It"
Performed by Salt 'n Pepa

User Reviews

Enjoyable Popcorn Flick

It was no surprise that, throughout Make It Happen's 80-minutes duration, one would find this latest dance flick (helmed by occasional music director, Darren Grant) riddled with the most tiresome and obnoxious clichés that the genre could offer across its existence. Yes, to be fair, the film seems to be borrowing each scene from similarly plotted features. Yet, in one way or another, Make It Happen seems to present all of them just that better.

One of the flick's greatest and most undeniable asset would be lead Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who displays some of her best work here. It's hard not to swoon for Winstead, who switches from ferocious, limb-swinging urban dancer to ingénue, down-to-earth, corn-fed small town girl with impressive and flawless flair. She seems born for the role, radiating an unbelievable amount of charm, and drawing life into a well-written character. Despite having been supplied with a prosaic script, Winstead performs admirably well, both on and offstage.

Regardless of Winstead's poetic beauty, the film lacks a substantial screenplay, and every line feels tacky and uninspired. It's safe to say that the film is no more scripted than it is choreographed. Adler's libretto felt unremarkably familiar, and, with or without hindsight, you could almost tell how the film will unfold before the lights dim down. It was fortunate that the rest of the troops, though never coming close to stealing the show (leave that to Winstead), played their - stereotypical - parts adequately, with the provocative Julissa Bermudez standing out exiguously.

The film's lack of flesh on show is an affront to the cast's sensual, slinky sex appeal, and it is hard to find that the clubgoers are majorly made up of cheering females, rather than drooling guys. However, the dances are already enticing in nature, so more skin would not have been necessary, but simply more effective. Speaking of, the dance sequences are entertainingly beautiful, aided with a catchy soundtrack, and as a whole, undeniably a visual and aural delight - a testament to the eyes and ears.

Make It Happen is not much a film rather than a montage of energetic dance romps, connected solely by filler sequences enlaced with drama and romance. That said, they are good sequences of drama, as Winstead's verisimilar approach to her character enlivens each of the film's dramatic scenes. The same cannot be said for the sequences of romance though. Try as they might, the pairing of Winstead and Smith lacks chemistry, and as a result, the film is forced to present a dull romance that you couldn't care for. It doesn't help that Smith's character is near unlikable - as another critic put it - "a smarmy douche".

All the same, Grant's experience in the music video industry helped a lot here. Stunning cinematography entwine each scene, and the dance sequences are nothing short of being optically magnificent. Although there might not be much to entertain those with a passionate dislike of this variety, it is nevertheless a fine installment into the dance genre. Make It Happen passes as both a short, drama film entwined with great dance sequences, and an overtly long, energetic music video interweaved with filler drama scenes. However you put it, I believe Make It Happen is still a decent film.

Verdict: Darren Grant has crafted an enjoyable popcorn dance flick, an improvement over the recent additions to the genre. There's still much room for improvement, but Winstead's soulful performance atones for much of the flaws. Nevertheless, its feeble screenplay and extremely predictable fade-out could not go off easily unnoticed.