Not another chick flick/inspirational/dance movie! I’m not one to usually judge a movie based on its title, but Make It Happen blares the movie’s ambition like a toad after a rainy day, only it fails in every turn to be even remotely interesting. I’ll tell you why: because whatever happens in Make It Happen has more or less happened in every other dance movie ever made. In short, the main character is somehow rejected from a professional school, and later on finds success somewhere else. If there is a fresh, new idea on how to make a dance movie, Make It Happen missed it by a mile.
Which is a pity, really, because the main character is played by none other than the spunky actress who was John McClane’s daughter in the latest Die Hard movie. Perhaps the time is not quite right for her to take on any lead roles yet, if she can afford to be memorable in a supporting role.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Lauryn, has dancing as an ambition all her life. That is, before she is rejected during an audition for a prestigious school, the Chicago School of Music and Dance. As lazy writing would have it, she runs into the kindest person on earth, who introduces her to someone else who introduces her a job as a bookkeeper in a club called Ruby’s. As more lazy writing would have it, Lauryn gets a chance to strut her stuff when some dancers become unavailable. Like the PG-rated Die Hard, Make It Happen offers a whole bunch of diluted “raunchy” dance sequences that aren’t spicy or memorable enough because of its choice audience. Why make a movie about club dancing when you want kids to watch it is beyond me.
Make It Happen is no Step Up or Dreamgirls, and its lack of effort to have a proper script, dance choreography and direction means that there’s no reason to watch it either.
|