Mary Elizabeth Winstead [has] star quality.
Make It Happen (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:4
Rotten:13
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: Cheap, predictable, formulaic and unimaginative generic dance film. Comes across as Showgirls for simpleton teens, but with much less flesh on show.
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
US Box Office: $0
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Riley Smith
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Riley Smith
Director: Darren Grant
Director: Darren Grant
Screenwriter: Duane Adler, Nicole Avril
Studio: Weinstein Company
Reviews for Make It Happen
It's hard to dislike all these urban musicals aimed at teenage girls, and even harder to tell them apart.
We know the trajectory, it's a question of how brightly the rocket burns and how interested we are in the astronauts aboard this dance missile from small town Indiana to Chicago Big Time Dance School
There's dancing, there's emotion, there's an earnestly cheesy inspirational storyline, there's nothing you won't have seen before.
The directing’s lazy, the love interest is a smarmy douche and the dialogue is flatter than Winstead’s toned tummy.
Its just as cheesy and just as icky, but calamitously fails to offer any high-octane dance to ease the pain.
Then you wait for the moment one of the regular girls gets injured, the hostess has to find a replacement and... the rest you know.
This film's limp retelling of the against-all-odds cliche just doesn't bump, grind or sweat enough to make it happen.
...yet another tedious inspirational tale revolving around a would-be dancer's efforts at transcending her wrong-side-of-the-tracks upbringing to become a professional hoofer.
The film should have been called Rehash Dance, because it is Flashdance without any new ideas.
The story may be predictable but Winstead infuses every moment with an amazing amount of charm.
So predictable that you know exactly what’s going to happen at any given minute.
Despite boundless energy and some surprisingly artful photography, ‘Make it Happen’ is never more than product. Cheap, abysmally scripted and utterly soulless.
It could be a contemporary take on classic backstage musicals. Or it could be the end of the cinematic arts as we know them.
It’s all just filler between the dance scenes, which are admittedly fun. Think Pussycat Dolls with slightly more clothes on. Unrepentantly formulaic, but enjoyable all the same.
In short, this is a watchable dance movie and Winstead's performance just about compensates for the generally poor direction.
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