Mary as: Lauryn Kirk Directed By: Darren Grant Screenwriter: Duane Adler, Nicole Avril Distributor: The Weinstein Company, The Mayhem Project
Cast: Riley Smith, Tessa Thompson, Julissa Bermudez, John Reardon, Ashley Roberts Genre: Drama / Dance MPAA Rating: 'PG-13' for sequences of sexuality Runtime: 90 minutes
Lauryn is a young woman from a small town in Indiana who moves to Chicago with dreams of entering the Chicago School of Music and Dance. But after rejection and a series of misfortunes she finds herself working in a burlesque club. The club proves to be a place of conflict and self-discovery, helping Lauryn to realize that even though plans may change, dreams never do.
Dana (Tessa Thompson) follows Lauryn on her journey as her best friend, whilst Russ (Riley Smith) becomes Lauryns love interest throughout the film. Standing in the way of her dreams, Joel (John Reardon) who plays Lauryns brother and is very protective of her and the bitchy Carmen, who will stop Lauryn from getting her dream at any costs.
Lauryn Kirk is a 21-year-old cornfed farm girl living in Glennwood, Indiana and working at her family's garage as a bookkeeper. She was untimely orphaned and resides with her brother, Joel, in Indiana. Lauryn aspires to be a dancer. Her mother desired to be one, but decides to raise a family instead, and passes on the ambitions to her daughter.
Desperate to depart from the ennuis of small town life, and seeking fame in the big city, Lauryn drives down to Chicago to audition for an entry in the renowned (and fictional) Chicago School of Music and Dance. Her dance, a cross between hip-hop and street dancing, is not welcomed favorably the harsh judge, and she was rejected even before she even finished her dance. Moments later, her car gets towed off. Lauryn downs her sorrows in a cafˇ, where she meets the friendly Dana. Dana offers Lauryn a place to stay.
Lauryn is depicted as a sweet, caring if slightly tomboy-ish girl. Throughout the film, Lauryn brings a slingbag around, and doesn't know how to "dress" properly. Dana frequently brings Lauryn around to shop, and proves to be a very loyal friend. She introduces Lauryn to a burlesque club called Ruby's, where Lauryn soon recurringly dances at. She discovers a new kind of dance there, a mix between burlesque and hip hop. The club eventually warms up to Lauryn's new dance moves, everyone that is except for rival dancer, Carmen, who sees Lauryn as a threat. She intimidates Lauryn through words; "People come here to see something special, not that stuff you do". Towards the end of the film, however, Carmen reveals that she only did that to encourge Lauryn further.
Soon, Lauryn catches the attention of the club's DJ, Russ. They form a relationship, and he frequently takes her out for dinner. Although apparently somewhat of a playboy, Russ obviously cares for Lauryn. Lauryn feels guilty for her parents' death, and vows to keep the family garage running. She is portrayed as selfless, and has even kept her life on hold for 3 years to manage the garage. However, while she is off in Chicago, Joel begins to lose the business due to stacking bills. He goes down to Chicago to congralute his sister on entering the school, but catches Lauryn during a dance at Ruby's. Overtaken by guilt, Lauryn returns home to Indiana to resume her work as a bookkeeper.
Feeling culpable, due to his discouraging words to Lauryn, Joel then urges Lauryn to audition for the school again. This time, Lauryn's new moves are accepted and she acquires an entry. Lauryn returns to Ruby's to obtain her paycheck, and to apologize to Brenda, but finds a surprise congratulatory party there. She and Russ then kiss and make up. Lauryn is further illustrated as a sensitive modest, but easily influenced person. She evidently feels a little uncertain of her abilities at times, and her worries might even get the best of her at times. Mary says that it's "easy to relate [to Lauren]", as her problems and her personality is universal.
Mary Quotes
• "I'm excited. It's kind of a Flashdance-esque story of a girl; a hip hop dancer trying to make it in the real world of dance so she's having to learn ballet and jazz and cabaret and all these different things and she's not trained for it. The burlesque is really more cabaret at a club; just theatrical pieces and fun dance sets. It should be a lot of fun."
• "I'm having to play someone who is a hip hop dancer who is classically not so good which is the opposite of me. I have no experience in hip hop whatsoever. I was classically trained. I'm having to throw away all my classical training and focus on hip hop and jazz and that type of thing whereas ballet is what I did most of my life."
Memorable Quotes
• Lauryn Kirk: I've got one dream. One shot. Today, everything could change.
• Lauryn: What are you doing here?
Joel Kirk: I came to congratulate you on getting into the school. Only they've never heard of a Lauryn Kirk. You call this chasing your dreams? Is this all the hard work you've been doing?
Lauryn: I didn't get in. I didn't know how to tell you. But this is hard. And if you stuck around, you'd see how difficult the routines are.
Joel: I saw enough.
Facts & Trivia
• As Mary wanted and trained as a classical dancer when she was younger, she wanted to show off her talents into a dance film.
• There was a deleted scene in which Russ read her character's license card and revealed that Lauryn was 5'9" and 105 pounds. The scene was removed to ensure that the film was not sending the wrong message.
• The umbrella dance scene was supposed to be filmed differently. Initially, the floor was to be covered with about 2 inches of water and the actresses would be splashing water around. However, they then realized it was impossible to dance without slipping up, so they had the rain backdrop and glitter pouring down instead.
• Mary stated that the suit she wore for her second dance in Ruby's was her favorite costume.
• Most of the dance routines were performed by Mary, with the exception of the body flip at the end of her second audition, in which stunt performer Dan Skene stood in for her.
Trailer Preview
Our Reviews
Not Available
- Ally
Although the film suffers from a weak screenplay, an abysmally cheesy fadeout and very limited character development, Winstead's soulful charm managed to keep me in my seat for Make It Happen's 80-minutes run. The film's recreation of twenty other similarly-plotted flicks were distracting, sure, but Grant dazzles us with stunning cinematography. While the dance moves weren't particularly revolutionary, they're still fun to watch; Winstead and co. sure know how to fling their long limbs around. If you don't mind a dance film without much of a story, you'll have loads of fun with this one.
RT Critics: 20%, based on 15 reviews RT Top Critics: 0%, based on 5 reviews RT Community: 33%, based on 6 reviews
IMDb: 4.9, based on 118 votes MEW Collection: 41%, based on 49 reviews MEW Staff: 6.0, based on 1 review
"A watchable dance movie and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance just about compensates for the generally poor direction."
- (Read Full Review: View London)
"it is an enjoyable almost ninety minutes and fans of this genre really should give it a try even if it's just for Winstead who really does have the potential to become a big star."
- (Read Full Review: Female First)
"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."
- (Read Full Review: Total Film)
"There's dancing, there's emotion, there's an earnestly cheesy inspirational storyline, there's nothing you won't have seen before."
- (Read Full Review: Channel 4)
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