BRING IT ON (2000) / * 1/2
Directed by Peyton Reed. Screenplay by Jessica Bendinger. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Gabrielle Union. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG for mild language by the MFCB. Reviewed on August 28th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Here we have it: "Bring It On", the first feature film targeted at ten year-olds with the sensibilities of an adult. Or maybe at adults with the mindset of a ten year-old; frankly, it's hard to tell. Either way, "Bring It On" is an uncomfortable melding of an After-School Special plot with distinctly mature humor. It's not quite paedophilia, fortunately, but at times it comes disturbingly close. Whereas movies like "American Pie" are up-front about their attitude toward sex and profanity, "Bring It On" couches its mature content in a maudlin, juvenile storyline. Who is this film aimed at? The swearing and sensuality is clearly not for the young. The story will bore anyone out of knee socks and pigtails. "Bring It On" tries to appeal to all demographics, and in doing so becomes a peculiar hybrid suitable for none.
Torrance "Tor" Shipman (Kirsten Dunst) is the new captain of the cheerleading squad at Rancho Carne, a high school in a well-to-do San Diego neighbourhood. Although the school football team is a perpetual disaster, the cheerleaders are champions, having placed first in the Nationals for five years running. The squad looks set for another easy victory until new recruit Missy (played by Eliza Dushku, the psychotic Slayer Faith on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") realises that all their routines have been cribbed from the cheerleaders of East Compton High in urban San Diego. Tor is faced with having to develop an entirely new set of cheers in just three weeks, before the big showdown with East Compton and its captain, Isis (Gabrielle Union), at the National Championships.
"Bring It On" reads like a litany of teen-melodrama cliches. There are, of course, the snobby white girls and the hip but poor black girls. There's Tor's unfaithful college boyfriend and the new boy who's perfect for her -- if it weren't for the misunderstandings which keep them apart. There's the leadership challenge Tor must endure, and the inevitable climactic meet which will decide everything. Oh, and let's not forget the syrupy-sweet conclusion in which all wrongs are righted, and everybody goes home happy.
But most damning of all is the fact that, for long stretches of time, "Bring It On" just isn't funny. Partly this is because the filmmakers seem uncertain about whether they're making a satire or a serious movie, and so the jokes just cease while they go about advancing the plot. And partly this is because the raunchy humor is such a poor fit with the general attitude of the picture. Several jokes aroused only uncomfortable chuckles from the audience during the screening I attended, accompanied by much squirming and shifting in the seats. Scenes in which the cheerleaders parade about in their underwear, or one in which a male cheerleader "inadvertently" lets his fingers slip while holding up a pantie-less female cheerleader, sit uncomfortably next to the simple moralising of Jessica Bendinger's screenplay.
Indeed, "Bring It On" feels like a movie which underwent a major rethink halfway through production. I'm not sure if it started out as a sharp pastiche on cheerleading which was subverted into something more homogeneous, or if it was originally just a standard kids' movie later spiced up to bring in the adults. Without a doubt, I would have preferred either to the end result.
To be fair, there are some good moments. For example, a sequence in which a desperate Tor hires a professional choreographer to discipline her troupe is a lot of fun, as the dancer (Ian Roberts) proceeds to tear apart each and every member of the Rancho Carne squad. Dunst manages to preserve her natural charm despite the poor quality of her material. She makes a real effort here, but she's fighting an uphill battle and just can't make the movie succeed on her own. Dushku is also very good, although the script never really finds anything for Missy to do after her introduction as a rebellious gymnast. She spends the rest of the film acting like Dunst's shadow, the third wheel in the romantic subplot involving Tor and Missy's brother Cliff (Jesse Bradford).
Less laudable is the movie's treatment of the East Compton squad. Their appearances are so brief that none of them benefit from any character development whatsoever, not even Gabrielle Union's Isis. This is unfortunate because when she is on screen, Union demonstrates a real presence, and I was hoping to see more of her. Further, the flimsy portrayal of the East Compton troupe ensures that their rivalry with the Rancho Carne cheerleaders is all but devoid of tension or excitement. It is difficult for the audience to get excited about a competition when one side is virtually unknown.
Also unimpressive is Peyton Reed's pedantic direction. Whereas movies of this sort often excel at showcasing their subject material, if nothing else ("Center Stage"'s exposure of ballet is a good recent example), "Bring It On" does cheerleading no real favours. Despite the energy and enthusiasm of the cast, their routines are filmed in a dull and commonplace manner. As much time is spent on sending up the sport as it is on portraying the real trials and tribulations it incurs. There is little in "Bring It On" to suggest that cheerleaders are, as Roberts' choreographer puts it, anything other than "dancers who have gone retarded".
An ill-conceived motion picture from start to finish, "Bring It On" is one of those rare films which isn't just dull or insipid, but is occasionally embarrassing to watch. Only some lively performances save this from the scrap heap of the truly dreadful. "Bring It On"? Do us all a favour -- please, don't.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/BringItOn.html
_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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