Dance Movies

Make it Happen is a 2008 dance film directed by Darren Grant and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The screenplay was co-written by Duane Adler, who was a screenwriter for Save the Last Dance and Step Up, films that also involved dancing.

Reception

Financial Reception

Make It Happen was released first in the UK on Friday, the 8th of August. During its initial release, the film grossed $945,349 over the weekend and ended up fifth on the box office chart. It spent a total of one week on the top 10 chart, before dropping down to the 12th position in its second week, earning $216,923 as the weekend gross.

The film grossed $2,489,030 a total of over its run in the UK. It was further released on the 4th of September in both Australia and Singapore, where it went on to collect a total of $1,518,790 and $91,686 respectively. It made $86,540 in the Philippines after its debut on the 1st of October. The film is being released direct to DVD in the US on December 9, 2008.

Critical Reception

The film received generally negative to mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, the film stands at a 20% approval score. It is certified as “rotten”, with the consensus being: “Cheap, predictable, formulaic and unimaginative generic dance film. Comes across as Showgirls for simpleton teens, but with much less flesh on show”. A fansite for Mary Elizabeth Winstead also aggregates reviews for Make It Happen. It lists a 41% approval rating, based on 49 reviews.

Apparently, many critics disliked the film’s similarities with other dance flicks such as Save the Last Dance and Flashdance. Another main criticism was that the film did not contain enough skin. One reviewer stated, “You’re liable to see more flesh in a Pussycat Dolls video than here”. The dance moves were also criticized as being lazy, and offering nothing groundbreaking.

Nevertheless, there were still positive points to the film. The film’s biggest and most universally-agreed asset was Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Reviewer Mike Martin says, “Winstead infuses every moment with an amazing amount of charm”. Another plus side to the film was its short running time, as most found its 80-minute run “bearable”.

Soundtrack

No official soundtrack has been planned for the film, but Make It Happen features the following songs, among others:

• Teach Me How To Dance – Che’Nelle
• Put It Down – Zshatwa
• Going Home – Mozella
• Hustle – Jamelia
• Get What I Want – Bittersweet
• Hoodie – Lady Sovereign
• Get Your Shoes On – Elisabeth Withers
• Ruby Blue – Roisin Murphy
• Steamy – Tamara Powell
• Shawty Get Loose – Lil Mama ft. T Pain & Chris Brown
• Triple Double – Ohmega Watts
• Break It Down – Alana D.
• Love Ya – Unklejam
• Bottoms Up – Keke Palmer
• Hello – Kip Blackshire
• Beware Of The Dog – Jamelia
• Push It – Salt-N-Pepa
• Just Dance – Lady GaGa

Cast

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead      Lauryn Kirk
• Riley Smith      Russ
• Tessa Thompson     Dana
• Julissa Bermudez     Carmen
• John Reardon     Joel Kirk
• Karen LeBlanc     Brenda
• Ashley Roberts      Brooke