If you're looking for a likable summer film that has a comfortingly predictable plot but a load of music and dance sequences, then you can't go far wrong with Make It Happen.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Lauryn, a girl from a small town with a big dream; to leave her bookkeeping role at her late parents' garage and enroll at the Chicago School of Music and Dance. After she fails her audition — because she isn't in touch enough with her emotions — she gets lucky by meeting Dana, who gets her a back-office job in burlesque club Ruby's. What follows is a journey of self-discovery, as Lauryn gets in touch with her feelings by hooking up with music director Russ, becoming a burlesque dancer, and dealing with her grief and guilt over her parents' deaths.

The best thing about this film is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which is just as well as she's in pretty much every scene! She combines her awesome dance talent with solid acting, and I was surprised to find myself genuinely moved in the scenes where Lauryn starts to come to terms with her grief. I can't pretend the movie is jam-packed with emotion and drama, and there are nowhere near enough conflicts to give the plot any real drive, but it chugs along steadily with a running time of less than 90 minutes.

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Although Ruby's is billed as a burlesque club, don't expect any raunchy strip tease scenes. Sure, there's a bit of glove-removing and suit-ripping-off action — which Mary told me was her favourite sequence in the whole film when I chatted with her last week — but the majority of the clubbers are cheering women not leering men, as will no doubt be the case with the cinema-going audience. Real-life Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts' inclusion as one of the original three dancers (below) lends credibility, but those of you hoping for any kind of engagement with the sexual politics of the burlesque scene will be left disappointed. That's not what this film's about.

Writer Duane Adler (of Save the Last Dance and Step Up fame) has created a character in Lauryn that I actually rooted for. If you're willing to suspend your disbelief, then the friendship between her and Dana is sweet, and her relationship with Russ is suitably sugary, if lacking much complexity. Lauryn's relationship with brother Joel is more intriguing, and the tensions between them give the film its dramatic moments. The pace is frustratingly slow but the music keeps pumping and the dance moves are impressive and hey, we all like a predictable ending now and again, right?

If you want drama and a fast pace then you'd be better off giving Make It Happen a miss, but take a look at the trailer and if it's your kind of film then give it a go, if only for the amazing dance sequences and thumping soundtrack.

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