WORK IT (2020)
The Plot
This movie is basically about a teenager who's trying to get into her dream school, lies about something, and then has to make it true. It's not a story that we've never heard before. Quinn, who cannot dance, auditions for the team, but obviously didn't get in. So she decided to form her own dance team with some "diamonds in the rough". And that's where her romantic love interest, Jake Taylor, comes in. Jake is this amazing choreographer, but he said he'll only help them if they get through the qualifiers. Surprise, surprise, they did. Because of a "technicality". So then Jake helps them and the Thunderbirds try to sabotage their team, which doesn't make sense. If the Thunderbirds is the top team, they shouldn't need to feel threatened by this newly formed and inexperienced group. Quinn's grade goes down, so her mom gets her to quit it. Quinn discovers she can dance when she was sorting books in the nursing home, she gets the team back together. They literally practice for like a few weeks and then somehow they went to win the competition against the Thunderbirds, who has been practicing for months and even years. There was a plot hole in this competition though. Since Jake has graduated and it's supposed to be a school dance competition with students, shouldn't the TBDs be disqualified? While we're at the topic of Jake graduating, isn't it like illegal to date a minor or something?
The Characters
QUINN ACKERMAN
I don't have any particularly strong feelings towards Quinn. I love Sabrina Carpenter, but Quinn is kinda boring. She's just that top student in her school. She wants to get into Duke University, so she lies about being on the dance team. She's the typical "quirky" girl that you expect. I don't think she should've lied, but I also understand that sometimes when someone starts talking about one thing, you just decide to go along with it cuz that version of the story sounds better than the reality. She was a little terrible for just using people to help her get into her dream school, and then she just dismissed them when she no longer needed them after her mom told her to get her grades up. But she did redeem herself when she got the team back together because she realised she liked dancing. At the end of the movie when Quinn was going to the competition, I didn't understand why she didn't just wear her "normal" clothes out and then change into her dance uniform when she got there. I mean she should have known that there was a chance her mom would prevent her from going, so she should prepare for the worst case scenario. Just saying.
JASMINE "JAS" HALE
Jas was, tbh, taken advantage of. She basically just went along with whatever Quinn said. She gave up being in literally the top dance team just to help her friend get into her dream school. Quinn basically just assumed that Jas would want to do it since they've been friends for a long time. She was doing all of it for Quinn, but then Quinn just decided to throw all of it away at one point. The one thing I hated that the writers did was add in the mattress boy. The writers basically just forced this weird romance in our faces. There was no important backstory to it that can contribute to the plot at all. Also if you reverse the gender, Jas's character would be what ppl call, a pervert. So yeah, it's not just awkward but also inappropriate.
ISAIAH "JULLIARD" PEMBROKE
He was a pretty good dancer. His personality just sucks. I don't understand why they always have to make the competition have some bad traits. Like can't they just be a good person that you need to win against. Wouldn't that have more depth? Idk about schools in the US, but there really aren't that many mean ppl in my school years. The reality of high school is that people just keep to themselves and their few friends. The "popular" kids don't really bother anyone that much, and the "teacher's pets" are just ppl that everyone dislikes but somehow sticks up with. A lot of times, I feel like writers need some high school students to do a reality check on their scripts. So back to his character, at the end when he lost the competition to the TBDs, he said something really weird to them, like congratulations or something, but I just felt like it was really out of character for him. Like I said, if only he wasn't the "villain" of this movie!
JAKE TAYLOR
His character is the expert dancer who suffered from an ankle injury, so he doesn't dance professionally and only teaches kids now. Quinn wanted to recruit him to help choreograph their dance team and at first he was against it, but he slowly came around to that idea because he likes Quinn. (I guess?) There was a pretty cool scene where Quinn brought him to watch those street dancers with disabilities. I think they could've used that to explore and develop his character more. Maybe at the final competition, he could've danced while acknowledging and using his "ankle injury" as a main point. It didn't seem like a problem when he was dancing at the competition, but somehow he fell when he was teaching Quinn?
MARIA ACKERMAN
This is exactly the cliche parent this movie needed. The mom that wants her daughter to do this and do that, and doesn't let her do what she loves. I think she kept encouraging Quinn to get into Duke, and this made Quinn feel like she should get in. Towards the end of the movie, she tries to prevent Quinn from going to the competition because she feels like Quinn is wasting her life dancing. So then, as we know, Quinn goes to the competition, and the mom shows up. It was weird at the end when she was at the dance competition, and then smiled and said "I love you" to Quinn. She really just sat there and watched and for the first time realised that Quinn is doing what she loves. The transition between her not wanting Quinn to do dance at all and being really happy for Quinn was just too quick. It needs to be more gradual. And also where was she at the end of the movie when they were all dancing at the convention when the song played? I thought for sure that she would show up when Quinn and Jake were kissing, but nope. Did she just leave Quinn there or something?
Final Thoughts
No, this isn't a realistic movie. Most movies aren't, but it's more enjoyable than that mess of The Kissing Booth 2. I like that Sabrina gets to sing the final score for the movie, but also I wish that Jordan would have featured on it. Netflix literally had two of the best singers and only used half the talent. Even though this movie is generic in every way possible, the whole movie was not executed too terribly. I was able to enjoy this film to some extent. I feel like it's aimed at an audience of pre-teens more so than teenagers though.
I sincerely hope they don't make a sequel to this.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to comment to leave your thoughts so maybe you can change my mind about something! And I guess vote if you enjoyed it?