I admit, I sat down and watched Sidelined 2: Intercepted because it was late and I needed something to watch. Strangely enough, I could not do another Christmas movie, which, if you know me, never happens.
I also am a big fan of Tay Marley’s books. She’s a huge talent and needs to write a lot more books. I was afraid to watch, because I never know about sequels. Somehow, it always feels like the sequels give up a bit. This one didn’t give up at all. It went hard.
I have to talk about one thing really quickly that I love that Charlie Gillespie was in the movie, because Julie and the Phantoms was cancelled way too soon.
I love the characters of Drayton and Dallas, but I’ve loved them for years. Marley writes characters that you can’t help but love, and Noah Beck and Siena Agudong are very special characters. Those characters have brought a lot of people through some late-night reading binges from Wattpad to publication. Bring those characters to life – well, Noah Beck and Siena Agudong, do that with care. You can tell from interviews and their portrayal of the characters that they really care. They want to make everything perfect or as close to perfect as they can get for the fans.
It’s like they were meant to play the part.
I will also say that I sat down to watch this movie because of James Van Der Beek, Dawson’s Creek forever. As you grow older and high school relationships become a thing of the past, you realize that love isn’t going to be enough. I know that makes me sound like a cynic, but, hey it’s true.
Dallas and Drayton going to school in the same city doesn’t mean anything. Los Angeles is huge, and traffic is horrible. If you know where USC is located and you know where Valencia is, traffic makes it so you might as well be in different states. The two are enjoying their lives separately, but are looking for ways to enjoy life together. They want to be a part of each other’s worlds, but that requires time. Time is the one thing that they don’t really have.
Drayton is a freshman at USC, on the first string on the football team. That’s a big deal for a freshman, and he’s living it up. But the one thing that he doesn’t have a lot of – is time. It would be hard for anyone to understand if you aren’t living through it. His schedule is insane, and he has to be at peak performance all the time.
Dallas is excited to be excelling at dancing. She’s devoted, but she also wants to figure out how to balance it. She loves Drayton – she just accounted for the way things were and not for the way that things could be. College changes everyone.
Drayton doesn’t have the same issues that Dallas does. He’s got a family that will always be there for him and the finances to fall back on. He can concentrate on football. She has to get a job, and it turns out that her interview is right before his first game. It runs late, and she misses it, only for him to get injured.
She is broken and feels guilty. Drayton isn’t exactly kind to her and is very distant. I can understand that he’s feeling defeated, exhausted, and overwhelmed. His coach isn’t thrilled with him, his teammates are upset with him and want to humble him, and he loves Dallas, but doesn’t know how to make time for her.
Dallas has to take a job, and I am sure that cutting into weekend time is not something that either of them wants. Especially as he’s going to need her during his recovery.
Skylar – her boss – has a crush on her, and she doesn’t return the feelings. The two of them have a great friendship, and one where you see how much he cares about her, yet again, she doesn’t see. She is in his music video, and it’s beautiful. He shows up for everything that she has to do, every performance, every time she needs friends.
But Drayton doesn’t. He misses her showcase, and that is a lot for her. She’s destroyed over it. The break-up scene between Drayton and Dallas, Noah Beck and Siena Agudong made me cry. She’s broken, and he’s just looking at her like she’s being dramatic. They are throwing things back and forth at each other,
This is very much the start of the end as the two move forward. Drayton and Dallas are both going through it, but with their breakup, they don’t know how to be. It comes to her birthday, and he uses it as an excuse to call her. She’s out and Skylar is performing a song basically saying the song is basically like Drayton doesn’t deserve you.
The two talk, and he basically lies to her in order to spend Thanksgiving with her. He knows how to get to her. He knows what to say to spend time with her. He loves her. They agree to have Thanksgiving together. They have the most magical time. I couldn’t help watching the scenes and really being like that’s the type of guy I want – the type that is willing to do anything for me. The one that makes me comfortable, makes me think that I hung the moon, and doesn’t even make it seem so effortless. Drayton did that for her for Thanksgiving, but he made one mistake.
She asked him what his dream was, and he rattled off a bunch of stuff, but the one thing that he didn’t say was that she was a part of his dreams.
Drayton and Dallas were bad at one thing – communicating. They were bad at it, but then, at their age, they are just learning. It’s when they hear things from other people that they realize that they will always love each other.
Drayton is a man who wants to do the right thing and say the right thing. I don’t think that he knows what that is, but I think that he’s always going to be searching for an understanding of it. He loves Dallas, and supporting her means that he’s gotta let her go.
When he makes his football return, USC wins the game. In under five minutes of play, he manages to bring them a win. He’s riding a high, and one of the best parts of it was that Dallas was there to see it. You see, she got a part in the movie she auditioned for and wants to tell him in person.
After the game, she tells him about the part. She wanted to tell him in person. It’s the way that he hugs her; the way that he wraps his arms around her and pulls her in so close. The most intimate moment is when she’s in his arms, and he kisses her on the top of her head, and he tells her he’s proud of her. It’s the kind of hug that we all want. The safety we all want to feel.
She asks him if he believes in the wrong time, right person. He says he doesn’t know, but he believes that what’s meant to be will be. I don’t know if he really believes that or if he’s letting her off the hook. There is this moment where you look at the two of them, and you just catch your breath and smile. You look at the television, and you ask for what is meant to be, to be right now. Why? Because these two are everything.
They’re the characters that you see, and you want to know what happens in their future. You want them to be able to do big things and know that their love is going to be strong enough to last.
The movie leaves off on a cliffhanger, and I’m going to tell you right now, if we don’t get the third movie, I’m gonna be pissed. I need to know what happens next. I need to know that they made it back together or if they’re apart. I need to know everything because they are endgame. The next one needs to be Sidelined: Endgame, because Drayton and Dallas are just that. Endgame.
