| Sometimes you just need a comfort romance in your life, hot high school seniors fall in love, and that’s what Sidelined: The QB and Me offers by way of every single rom-com trope possible. This is one of the most cliché and predictable movies you can get, and yet the screenplay has some decent dialogue, the leads have good chemistry, and a notable actor might pop up to lend it some credence. | | 2025
Directed by: Justin Wu
Screenplay by: Cyrstal Ferreiro, Mary Gulino
Based on the book by Tay Marley
Starring: Siena Agudong, Noah Beck
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The titular ‘me’ is Dallas (Siena Agudong) a hard-working dancer who’s from the wrong side of the tracks. Doing well in school and hoping for a scholarship is all she knows since her parents died when she was young, her loving brother raises her, but they’re low on cash and rely on each other. The titular QB is Drayton (Noah Beck), the star football player for whom rules don’t apply since he’s rich, from a wealthy and affluent family who donates money to the school, and he leads the football team to championships.
Have you guessed yet that Dallas hates Drayton? Of course she does, he represents everything that is wrong with high school. But after running into her car (literally), the pair find themselves together more and more until eventually she learns that there is more to Drayton than his rich exterior, and he learns…wait, he doesn’t actually learn anything other than develop a little bit of compassion for people who aren’t handed everything. These are clichés because they work, there is a universality to these characters that makes this an easy watch.
Their relationship progresses a bit slower than it should (Dallas insists they are just friends), but the minute they become more than friends is hot and is worth the wait. There are some very sexy scenes in this movie, and making the characters such classic tropes helps – money is the easiest barrier to overcome within the movies allowing a natural transition to the physicality.
I’m not surprised that Sidelined: The QB and Me has proven to be popular it has all the ingredients for an easy romance and no significant drawbacks. It gets cheesy often in the second half, but it’s also not a movie you have to pay attention to, you’ll know what’s coming next, which also means all readers and viewers will know instantly if this movie is for them or not.
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