Work It (film)

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Work It
Official promotional poster
Directed byLaura Terruso
Written byAlison Peck
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRogier Stoffers
Edited byAndrew Marcus
Music byGermaine Franco
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • August 7, 2020 (2020-08-07)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Work It is a 2020 American dance comedy film directed by Laura Terruso and written by Alison Peck. Produced by Alicia Keys, Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton, the film stars Sabrina Carpenter, Liza Koshy, Keiynan Lonsdale, Michelle Buteau and Jordan Fisher as high school students of different backgrounds, and follows their journey to win the titular Work It dance competition.[1] The film was released on Netflix on August 7, 2020.[2]

Plot[edit]

Quinn Ackerman, a quirky and intelligent high school senior, works as a technical director for the Thunderbirds, her high school's elite dance team, which is well known around the state as the reigning champions of the Work It dance competition. When Quinn sets something on fire by accident, the ruthless leader of the Thunderbirds, Julliard Pembroke, fires her from the position.

Quinn's dream to attend Duke University, her late father's alma mater, is soured when the admissions counselor, Veronica Ramirez, informs that her chances of standing out to the admission's team are not good. Quinn misleads Ramirez into thinking that she is a dancer on the Thunderbirds, even though she only worked the lighting. Ramirez is instantly impressed, and vows to see her perform live at the Work It dance competition. Though she considers confessing, Quinn instead decides to commit to it. Quinn enlists the help of her best friend, Jasmine Hale, who is a dancer for the Thunderbirds herself, to teach her how to dance for the team's open auditions in two weeks. Quinn's dancing skills improve substantially, but Julliard still rejects her. After Jasmine stands up to him and defends Quinn, Julliard sarcastically suggests that the two start their own dance team, which Quinn does. Jasmine reluctantly agrees to quit the Thunderbirds in favor of Quinn's new team.

Quinn and Jasmine research a former champion of the Work It competition, Jake Taylor, who stopped competing and vanished after a knee injury two years prior. Quinn tracks him down and approaches him at the dance studio where he now works, and asks him to be a choreographer for her team, but Jake rejects her, insisting that dance is done with passion, not learned by thinking. Meanwhile, the girls round up a group of unknown dancers at their school who all differ in style. After seeing the team's potential during an informal dance meetup, Jake agrees to choreograph for Quinn's team, but only if they can win the upcoming qualifying competition by themselves. Under the name "TBD", they cut qualifiers but on a technicality issue with an opposing team.

Jake and Quinn spend more time together, and one night, Jake takes her aside and decides to experiment with freestyle dancing with her. As the two practice, Quinn's talent surfaces, and they kiss. With newfound confidence, Quinn takes it easier on herself and puts more effort into her dancing and teamwork.

Quinn emails Veronica Ramirez and informs her that she has started her own team and that they will be competing at Work It. However, when Julliard discovers that Jake is choreographing for the Quinn's team, he turns them in for using the studio to practice without paying, and Jake loses his job. Quinn's grades drop due to her dedication to the team, and she receives an email from the Duke admissions team informing her that Veronica no longer works there. Quinn confesses everything to her mom, and they agree that she should quit the dance team and bring her grades up before turning in her final transcript. The team feels betrayed by Quinn's departure, especially Jasmine, who rejoins the Thunderbirds, and Quinn ends her romance with Jake. She later rediscovers her own passion for dance and reconciles with Jake, and they both decide to bring the team back together. Quinn reconciles with Jasmine, who quits the Thunderbirds and rejoins the TBDs.

The group begins to learn each other's unique dance styles, and Jake incorporates them into the choreography. On the day of the competition, Quinn's mother discovers that she is still in dance and tries to stop her from leaving and even trying to punish her for it, but Quinn told her mom going to Duke and becoming a doctor is her parents dreams and not hers and steals the car keys and leaves. When Quinn arrives, the TBDs are already on stage, and she enters halfway through the act. The TBDs narrowly win the competition over the Thunderbirds, and both Jasmine and Julliard are approached by a scout from the New York Dance Academy. Quinn runs into Veronica, who is now working at NYU, and she invites her to apply for the fall semester.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

On April 2, 2019, Adam Fogelson of STX announced the film along with Alicia Keys producing it.[3] On May 2, 2019, it was announced that Sabrina Carpenter, Liza Koshy and Keiynan Lonsdale would star in the film.[4] Laura Terruso was announced as the director, and that Terruso would rewrite the film from an original script from Alison Peck, with Elysa Koplovitz Dutton Leslie Morgenstein from Alloy Entertainment producing the film alongside Keys.[5] On July 2, 2019, Drew Ray Tanner, Michelle Buteau and Jordan Fisher all joined the cast and it was announced that Netflix would distribute the film.[6] It was also announced that day that Carpenter would also serve as an executive producer.[1]

Filming took place from June 2019 to August 2019 at the University of Toronto (St. George Campus), Humber college Lakeshore Campus, Toronto, York University Keele campus in Toronto, Canada[7][8][9] and on the campus of California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles in December 2019.[citation needed]

Soundtrack[edit]

Track listing[edit]

  1. "Let Me Move You" - Sabrina Carpenter
  2. "Wow" - Zara Larsson
  3. "Thinkin Bout You" - Ciara
  4. "I Am the Best" - 2NE1
  5. "Do It Like This" - Daphne Willis
  6. "Onset" - Haiku Hands featuring Mad Zach
  7. "Motivation" - Normani
  8. "Feeling It" - Danger Twins
  9. "Break My Heart" - Dua Lipa
  10. "Cool" - Dua Lipa
  11. "Get On Your Feet" - Gloria Estefan
  12. "Mess" - Jordan Fisher
  13. "Treat Myself" - Meghan Trainor

Release[edit]

Work It was released by Netflix on August 7, 2020.[10] It was the top-watched film in its debut weekend, before falling to fifth place in its second weekend.[11][12]

Reception[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10.[13] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c N'Duka, Amanda (July 2, 2019). "Jordan Fisher, Drew Ray Tanner, Michelle Buteau Join Sabrina Carpenter In Netflix Dance Comedy 'Work It'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Work It: Netflix, DVD, Amazon Prime release dates & trailers". The Vore. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  3. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 2, 2019). "Alicia Keys Dance Movie 'Work It' & 'Bad Moms' Moms' In The Works At STX – CinemaCon". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  4. ^ "Sabrina Carpenter to Star in STX Dance Comedy 'Work It'". The Hollywood Reporter. May 2, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  5. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 2, 2019). "Alicia Keys' Dance Comedy 'Work It' Sets Sabrina Carpenter As Lead". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  6. ^ Clement, Olivia (July 2, 2019). "Jordan Fisher Tapped for New Dance Film Work It". Playbill. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "'Work It': Sabrina Carpenter, Liza Koshy star in Netflix dance comedy". UPI. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  8. ^ "Sabrina Carpenter on Instagram: "that's a wrap on @workitmovie excuse me while i go miss all these incredible people, and sorry to the man on the plane next to me for my…"". Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Instagram.
  9. ^ "Work It (@workitmovie) • Instagram photos and videos". Retrieved July 3, 2019 – via Instagram.
  10. ^ Martin, Annie (July 9, 2020). "'Work It': Sabrina Carpenter dances in teaser for Netflix film". UPI. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  11. ^ Rowles, Dustin (August 9, 2020). "Weekend Box Office: Seth Rogen, Shia LaBeouf, And The Most-Watched Movies At Home". Uproxx. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  12. ^ Brueggemann, Tom (August 17, 2020). "Canadian Box Office Reopens as 'Unhinged' and 'SpongeBob Movie' Take the Lead". IndieWire. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  13. ^ "Work It (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  14. ^ "Work It Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 7, 2020.

External links[edit]

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