Netflix's 'Work It' is the sleek, funny dance movie we deserve

The dance movie is an art form unto itself.

There are the masterpieces, the Step Ups of the world; the off-brand sequels and knockoffs like Feel the Beat; and the hours you wish you could get back (looking at you, High Strung Free Dance). But Netflix's Work It, directed by Laura Terruso and written by Alison Peck, puts forth the best of the genre, packaged with a cute teen rom com and a killer cast.

Work It stars Sabrina Carpenter as Quinn Ackerman, an ambitious high school student who decides to start a dance team to help herself get into Duke. She teams up with bestie Jas (Liza Koshy) and they honor the humble movie tradition of assembling a perfect band of misfits to win the Work It! competition, with the guidance of choreographer Jake Taylor (Jordan Fisher).

Work It Credit: Brendan Adam-Zwelling/Netflix

It is unsurprising, though not the best look, that this movie features so many talented performers of color but still insists on a white protagonist — a move that Netflix might reconsider if greenlighting a similar project in the future (did we learn nothing from Save the Last Dance?). However, if you’re going to force the trope of the Caucasian conduit, you could do far worse than Carpenter, who has an impressive music and dance background and whose comedic timing has hit the mark since Disney's Girl Meets World. Quinn's eyeballs-only impression of her own mother in one scene is so unexpected and gratifying that Kate McKinnon must surely have felt a stirring in The Force.

That said, Quinn is the obvious weak link and she knows it. She works hard to improve, not relying on some hitherto unforeseen talent explosion, although it wouldn't be a dance movie if we didn't have that breakthrough. It's challenging for someone like Carpenter to pretend she's not a good dancer, but she gives Quinn a convincing conundrum: Even when she gets the moves, there's something missing that she has to find — the energy, charisma, and precision that the other dancers have and which Jake obviously tries to impart to her in sexually charged private sessions.

As Jake, Fisher continues to be a top-tier 2020 crush, less buttoned-up and clean-cut than in his swoonworthy turn in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. With tattoos, earrings, and a carefree casual wardrobe, Jake resembles the real Fisher and doesn't skimp even slightly on the charm.

We also get to see a different side of Keiynan Lonsdale as leader of the school's established and superior dance team — not only in his own electrifying dances but in how much he clearly relishes playing a baddie who won't extinguish his fire for anyone. Koshy gives Jas a nonstop intensity that pairs as well with her scene partners as with her YouTube and Vine origins. Her courtship of a vexingly handsome mattress salesman (Riverdale's Drew Ray Tanner) is the film's most ridiculous and satisfying subplot.

Keiynan Lonsdale as  a dance team diva in Netflix's "Work It." Credit: netflix

Under the direction of Terruso and cinematographer Rogier Stoffers, Work It really stretches its legs in terms of how it visualizes dance. There's a classic dance battle, multiple training montages, scenes in studios and auditoriums, freestyle circles, and even a dance music video within the film itself, when Quinn furtively searches Jake online to see his past performances. (This is one of the movie's best-filmed scenes, and if it isn't on YouTube by the time this review publishes I will be speaking to Ted Sarandos.)

Weaker dance movies often get bogged down in something cumbersome. They force a theme that isn't there or become obsessed with showcasing choreography that overpowers plot. Work It strikes a satisfying balance, delivering equally on Quinn's quest, the central romance, and enticing dance visuals that won't disappoint the casual viewer or those of us who fancy ourselves couch-based competition judges. It takes a pro to nail that move.

Work It is now streaming on Netflix.