Make It Happen

All this is is a dancing version of Coyote Ugly. Dancing is good but if you have watched Coyote Ugly, you already know what's about to happen.

Examples: In both movies there is a colleague who is horrible to them right through the movie...

In both movies there is the guy who pretends to be the manager...

In both, its all about getting the audition

In both, there is a family crisis where they both decide to abandon their dream and run home but first have a good old fashioned drama scene where they abandon their boyfriends...

Seriously, if you have watched Coyote Ugly, don't bother watching this one.

This film is about a young woman who works against all odds towards achieving her dream as a dancer.

"Make It Happen" is a predictable feel good movie. It has got all the ingredients to be a cheesy film. It has trendy danceable music, cool dance moves, great looking people, the jealous enemy; even the obligatory shopping scenes! As for the plot, there is no beating around the bush. Just six minutes into the film, there is already a dance audition. The pacing is fast, but it does not feel rushed. The dance moves are energetic and vibrant, which makes it a joy to watch.

"Make It Happen" gives the right youthful energy which makes viewers feel good. It is a great popcorn flick to turn your brain off. Just forget all the clichés, sit back and enjoy it.

It;s got it's flaws, but I had fun watching it. Mary Elizabeth WInstead is great in this film and the dance scenes were amazing. So if you just watch to see a dumb fun movie, I say give this film a watch.

Are there many better ways to waste an hour and a half than watching the gorgeous Mary Elizabeth Winstead strutting her stuff as a burlesque dancer? I didn't think so, but I was wrong. Winstead is breathtakingly beautiful, and sufficiently lithe and lissom for the role, but this derivative dance movie -- obviously inspired by films such as Flashdance, Fame, Breakin', and Coyote Ugly -- simply hasn't got the moves necessary for a good time.

Written by one-trick-pony Duane Adler (check out his filmography to see what I mean), this predictable urban fantasy piles on the clichés from the get-go: girl from Hicksville dreams of making it big - check! Her only family is her hard-working mechanic brother - check! She fails to make it through her audition - check! She takes a job at a nightclub where she falls for the nice guy DJ - check! Brother pays her a surprise visit and is shocked to see her on stage - check! Nice guy DJ convinces her to re-audition - check! She wows the choreographer and gets a place at dance school - check! Everyone is pleased for her, even her brother, who has had a change of heart - check!

Director Darren Grant injects very little life into proceedings: the drama is instantly forgettable, but even the dance scenes - surely the most important aspect of this genre - are incredibly bland. Don't expect any iconic moments a la Jennifer Beals water/chair moment in Flashdance - there aren't any. Don't look for cool moves as busted by Boogaloo Shrimp and Shabba-Doo in Breakin' - there aren't any. Winstead tries her best but the choreography is terrible - the final routine for her second audition isn't any better than her first attempt, but I guess failing twice wouldn't have been clichéd enough for this kind of tripe.

I watched for Winstead, but should have watched something else instead. 3/10.

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.