Make It Happen is a 2008 American dance film directed by Darren Grant and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The screenplay was co-written by Duane Adler, who was a screenwriter for other dance films Step Up and Save the Last Dance.
Though the film was theatrically released internationally, the film was released direct-to-video in the United States on December 9, 2008. The film received generally negative reviews, with chief criticisms being that it was yet another by-the-numbers dance film, though Winstead's performance received significant praise. The film was also a commercial failure, only grossing $10 million.
Plot
Lauryn Kirk is an aspiring dancer. As there are no dance schools in her hometown of Glenwood, Indiana, Lauryn says goodbye to her brother Joel and departs for Chicago to audition for a famous dance school. Joel works as a mechanic in the family garage, and is wary of Lauryn's decision to leave but eventually gives her his blessing. When Lauryn dances at the audition, her mostly a hip hop dance routine, is rejected by the judge, who says that they need to see something more "sensual and feminine".
Dejected, Lauryn goes to a diner to down her sorrows, but soon finds her car towed off. Upon seeing her misfortunes, Dana, a friendly waitress from the diner invites Lauryn to her apartment and out of the pouring rain. Dana subsequently offers Lauryn a place to stay, considering Lauryn could not go back home and face her brother. The next day, Dana brings Lauryn to a club called Ruby's (whose dances are rooted in burlesque), where she meets with Russ, the slick-talking disc jockey, and Brenda, the club owner. Brenda hires Lauryn as a bookkeeper, in light of her skills with numbers. Lauryn watches as a dancer, Carmen, performs impressively on the stage.
Before locking up late one night, Lauryn goes on the stage and silently and elegantly dances, while unbeknownest to her, Russ watches from a distance. The next night, Brenda finds herself short of dancers. Russ asks Lauryn to dance, after having seen her graceful performance the previous night. Lauryn reluctantly agrees, and goes on stage. At first, new to the sexy routine, Lauryn looks foolish, but when Russ starts playing hip-hop music, Lauryn does a sexy hip-hop routine, and finds herself to be Ruby's new star. As Lauryn and Russ' relationship progresses, Lauryn continues performing stunningly on stage, much to Carmen and Brooke's chagrin, who try to sabotage and intimidate the newcomer.
One night, Joel catches Lauryn at the club during a dance; After an argument, in which Lauryn realizes that Joel is losing the family garage due to stacking mortgages and bills, she decides to ditch the stage and return to Indiana to save the garage. Soon after though, Joel catches a peek of Lauryn joyfully dancing in the garage one day, and asks Lauryn to give the audition another shot. Lauryn returns to Chicago for a second audition. She nails it, and happily embraces Russ, who has come to encourage her. Lauryn goes back to Ruby's to apologize to Brenda, but finds a surprise congratulatory party awaiting for her, and the party breaks into dance.
Cast
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lauryn Kirk
Riley Smith as Russ
Julissa Bermudez as Carmen
Tessa Thompson as Dana
Karen LeBlanc as Brenda
Ashley Roberts as Brooke
John Reardon as Joel Kirk
Matt Kippen as Wayne
Production
Early conception
"What attracted me to "Make It Happen" was the fact that I could really just incorporate a lot of styles that I had done over the years. You have the dance element, and each little dance routine was going to be like its own little music video," Grant explains. When it came to helping the director to tell the story, Grant went to work with longtime collaborator, 1999 Kodak Cinematography Award winner David Claessen. "I've worked with David since I was a PA and an electrician, and I always liked the way he lights. We've done music videos that have been amazing and every frame is like a portrait or a picture."