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The Movie: "Bring It On" is perky teen fare, looking silly and goofy at first glance, then suprisingly charming and cute as the film goes onwards and upwards. It's nothing thought-provoking, but its sunny exterior is hard not to get caught up in. The film stars Kirsten Dunst ("Interview With A Vampire") and it would be nearly nothing without her, as she makes lines that would otherwise be rather embarassing believable. Dunst stars as Torrance, who's just been elected to captain of the cheerleading team at her local high school. After a new girl named Missy(Eliza Dushku) is added to the team, she finds out that the previous captain has stolen all their moves from an inner-city squad headed up by actress Gabrielle Union. Of course, the film has the two teams competing through the cheerleading championships, both regional and national, and all of the "Clueless"-light events and dialogue along the way. As for Kirstin Dunst, certainly the arguement can be made that she's capable of far better than this kind of material. On the flip side, she also has exactly the right timing to spin these lines (some of which are not great) and make them at least enjoyable and basically fun. The other members of the cast and their characters are certainly not fully written, but in a movie like this, none of them really need to be. Dushku is definitely the most enjoyable supporting player of the bunch. As for the cheerleading routines, they're extremely impressive, and although the actors reportedly had little time to practice, they are very well done. "Bring It On" grabbed an audience due to the strong marketing campaign from Universal Pictures; although I doubt anyone who isn't a teen or at least close to one would enjoy it, I have to say that this is one of the better teen films released lately. Decently written, not taking itself too seriously and generally fun, "Bring It On" is moderately enjoyable late-Summer fare. |