In case you haven’t heard, TikTok star and influencer Noah Beck is now an actor! On Nov. 29, he made his acting debut, starring in the movie Sidelined: The QB and Me. The movie is based on a Wattpad original story turned published book similarly titled The QB Bad Boy and Me. Despite the numerous hesitations I had sitting down to watch this film, I actually found myself enjoying it quite a lot
The film follows high school seniors Dallas Bryan, a cheerleader and dancer hoping to get accepted into CalArts, and Dreyton Lahey, the stereotypical athlete bad boy who plans on playing football after graduation. The film is a very straightforward rom-com that follows the pair as they fall in love while both chasing their passions. Of course, given its source material does originate from the sometimes cringey online reading and writing community that is Wattpad, I had accepted the fact that the movie would likely be very cheesy, but I was in the mood for a cute little high school romance.
To my surprise, the acting wasn’t terrible! Beck and his costar, Siena Agudong, both did very well in fulfilling their roles. I knew Agudong was already a veteran actress, but Beck surprised me with his ability to put on a performance. This was especially true in scenes where he had to show intense emotion, such as the scene when Drayton confronts his dad about their relationship. His performance was not perfect, but he did well to sell the idea of this bad-boy, swoon-worthy character that gave the movie a loveable, romantic feel.
The overall plot was also something that pleasantly surprised me as well. The movie steered away from tropes that many other high school love stories cling to, such as a love triangle or a mean girl character. The main conflict of the film focused on whether Drayton and Dallas’s relationship would hinder them from reaching their goals. However, in the end, their relationship was actually more beneficial to each character following their dreams, especially in the case of Dallas helping Drayton to pursue football at a school he was more passionate about.
However, one of the main things that took me out of the film was the somewhat horrible dialogue. This is not entirely the fault of Beck and Agudong, but there were plenty of cringe-worthy moments during my watch. Lines like “now I’m craving fries” during a particularly serious scene didn’t really make me laugh, but rather physically recoil at how awkward the line and its delivery were. Some moments felt very overly characteristic of the stereotypical bad-boy-football-star persona that Drayton was supposed to be. Drayton delivering lines with a not-so-subtle double meaning didn’t leave me feeling a lot of butterflies, but rather a sense of second-hand embarrassment.
Despite these tacky moments, given that it is a low-budget film, stars an influencer, and is based on a Wattpad story, these flaws were highly expected and partially accepted before I even turned the movie on. These moments didn’t necessarily take away from the entertainment value of the film and sometimes even contributed to it. It was fun to see these cringy scenes and laugh at their obscenity, especially coming from an influencer that I was familiar with.
If you ever find yourself in the mood for a cute, cheesy little rom-com, don’t hesitate to turn on Sidelined: The QB and Me. The movie is now streaming for free on Tubi, so go check it out!
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