BRING IT ON

Susan Granger’s review of “BRING IT ON” (Universal Pictures)

It’s not all pirouettes and posing for the razzle-dazzle pom-pom squad! Cheerleading is competitive and this exuberant teen comedy never lets you forget it. Kirsten Dunst plays the perky, newly-elected captain of the Toro cheerleading squad of Rancho Carne High School in San Diego. It’s a prestigious position since the squad’s won the national championship for five years and is heading for its sixth trophy. That is until Dunst befriends a transfer student (Eliza Dushku) and her brother (Jesse Bradford) and discovers that the Toro’s perfectly-choreographed routines were, in fact, stolen by the ruthless former captain (Lindsay Sloane) from the Clovers, a hip-hop squad from East Compton. A visit to that inner-city school confirms the theft and the ire of the understandably angry captain (Gabrielle Union) of the African-American team that’s also taking part in the upcoming national championships in Daytona. It gets kind of awkward and rah-rah rough here as Dunst laments, “My whole cheerleading career is based on a lie.” But Dunst is a good enough comedienne to carry it off, gamely switching moods with a mischievous myriad of expressions. Written by Jessica Bendinger and directed by Peyton Reed, it’s a silly, slangy and ultimately conventional spoof, touring the girls’ locker room with an unusual skirmish involving teeth-brushing. No doubt, cheerleading is a sport that requires discipline, timing, strength, and concentration but that and the edgy, moral racial angle is neither emphasized nor deeply explored here, nor was it part of the trailer. Instead, the racial tension arises unexpectedly. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Bring It On” is a bouncy, energetic 4, filled with gymnastics, dance and PG-13 sex appeal. As Dunst says: “This is not a democracy – it’s a cheerocracy.”

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