Tubi’s new movie “Sidelined: The QB and Me” is a story straight out of a book, a Wattpad book, but don’t let that scare you off. While cringey at times, the movie is overall a sweet romantic comedy.
In 2019, author Tay Marley published her debut young adult novel “The QB Bad Boy and Me” with Wattpad Books. Before being officially published, the book gained a lot of popularity starting in 2017 when it was uploaded to the Wattpad website — a site commonly known for its romance, teen fiction and fan fiction stories.
Marley’s book tells the story of Dallas, a cheerleader, whose plans to go to a prestigious dance school in California are turned upside down when she meets Drayton, her high school’s quarterback. Though the two clash at first, Dallas can’t help but feel a spark between her and Drayton. But as much as the two like each other she must ask herself if he’s worth putting her dreams of professional dancing at risk?
“Sidelined: The QB and Me” is a film adaptation of Marley’s book. Following the same story of “The QB Bad Boy and Me,” Siena Agudong and Noah Beck star as Dallas and Drayton. The movie premiered on Tubi on Nov. 29.
It was Beck’s addition to the movie that gained a lot of attention on social media. The well-known TikTok personality — known for his connection to the Sway House — has only recently started acting, with only a single guest appearance on Disney’s “Doogie Kamealoha, MD.” “Sidelined: The QB and Me” is his first starring role in a film. Fans were curious to see what Beck would bring to the film and took to Tik Tok to report that they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Beck’s performance going into this film, but I think Beck actually found a fitting role with Drayton. His character’s overly flirty personality aligned with what I’ve seen of Beck’s TikTok persona. The banter between Drayton and Dallas felt like something straight out of my favorite cheesy romance novels.
My favorite part of the film is the relationship between Dallas and her brother Nathan, played by Drew Ray Tanner. It’s revealed early in the movie that their parents died in a car accident when Dallas was young, leaving Nathan to be her sole guardian. Agudong and Tanner’s on-screen sibling dynamic is incredibly sweet and everything Nathan does to provide for his sister makes him a fan favorite. While I’m not one to get choked up over corny romantic comedies like this one, I will admit that when Dallas was leaving for college at the end of the movie and the two had to say goodbye, I did get a little choked up.
Aside from the death of Dallas’s parents, this movie covers some other heavy topics. Particularly when it comes to the relationship Drayton has with his father Leroy Lahey, played by James Van Der Beek. Throughout the entire movie their relationship is tense due to Leroy wanting Drayton to play football at his alma mater in Waco, Texas. It’s revealed later that some of the pressure comes from the disappearance of Drayton’s twin sister, Abby, who we are led to believe died when she was only eight. Leroy blames himself for his daughter's death and it manifests itself as him trying to control Drayton’s life.
While I think they certainly tried their hardest to add a lot of depth to this sad story between these two characters, I felt the heart of the story wasn’t covered enough in this movie. For most of the film, their interactions just sound like repetitive shouting. Leroy wants Drayton to play football at one school and Drayton has a whole bunch of other schools he’s looking into. It’s the same fight over and over again. And then when they finally bring up Abby they barely spend any time on it leaving the details of her death pretty vague. I just feel that when it comes to resolving their issues, Beck and Van Der Beek come off as more awkward on screen than what was intended for their characters.
Though this movie does have its cringey moments (about a dozen of Drayton’s cheesy pickup lines come to mind), I do think it’s a really good story about growing up. Yes, the movie is primarily centered around the romance between Dallas and Drayton but is set to the backdrop of senior year with both characters and their friends struggling with college decisions. It’s a story that I think many students that have gone or are going through college applications during senior year can relate to.
When going into cheesy romantic comedies such as this one I’m usually expecting it to be a complicated mess of overused tropes and uninteresting characters, but “Sidelined: The QB and Me” was a surprisingly fun watch. Sure, it’s not perfect by any means, but if you like a cute love story and are curious to see how Beck is at acting, then this is the perfect guilty-pleasure watch for you.
