Bring It On

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:38 Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

Bring It On
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 2000
Kiddie Movie: Lots of sexual innuendo – see quotes below.
Date Movie: She’ll probably just think you’re a pervert if you suggest it.
Gratuitous Sex: Lots of talk but nothing on screen.
Gratuitous Violence: A broken leg and bloody nose, but it just goes along with the job.
Action: Nah.
Laughs: Quite a few if you’re older and understand them.
Memorable Scene: When the girls are holding cheerleader tryouts and one girl acts like a stripper, when the girls hire the choreographer, and the final competition.
Memorable Quote: So many, so little space, but here’s a few:
“You’re having cheer sex with him!”
“Guys want to touch my chest!”
“Is that your band or something” as Torrance checks out Cliff’s t-shirt with “The Clash” on it (boy I felt old).
“You speak fag.”
“If you stop eating, maybe your body will eat your ass.”
Directed By: Peyton Reed

Well I’m thinking the ratings board made a mistake in creating the PG-13 rating. Why? Because it has opened up an entirely new group of movies that would probably be rated R except the filmmakers got rid of the blatant nudity and eliminated the sex. The latest movie in this group is “Bring It On.”

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun, spirited movie, totally targeted at the teen group, but I’m thinking the younger teens are going to be excited to see this movie rather than the older teens, and for the youngins I just think it’s too adult. Maybe I’m just beginning to become an old fart, but if you’re giving me a movie with cheerleaders running around in their underwear and spouting tons of sexual innuendos, please make it about college cheerleaders, let them be naked, and go all out.

The story kinda plays out like this: Kristen Dunst plays Torrance who has just been elected as Captain of the cheerleading squad. Their squad is the best, has been for years, but the problem is that they have been stealing the cheers of a different school, an inner-city school. Well, for once, the other school is headed to the competition, Torrence finds out about the stolen cheers before the competition, hires a choreographer to draft a new cheer, only to be humiliated at regional’s when another school does their cheer routine first. All is not lost, however, because they still have three weeks until nationals (they get invited back no matter how much they suck because they are the previous champions), and Torrance finds it in her soul to rally the cheerleaders to come up with something brand new. And, oh yea, you also get a “he went off to college and I still love him but there’s this new kid at school who I’m digging” story line, the affluent versus the inner-city school story line, the “is it better to win or not be cheaters” story line, and the “are guy cheerleaders gay?” story line.

So many story lines, so little time, and all the while they might have had the high-schoolers having sex because they sure insinuated it enough.

It was a cheesy movie about competition and motivation (hell, I almost felt like cheering during the final competitions), but still enjoyable. The movie, though, could have had such a more wholesome appeal without all of the sexual innuendos. I’m not saying that I didn’t laugh at them, hell, I found them rather funny, but I’m just wondering if the 12 year olds were hopping in the car as mom would drive them home and ask “What’s cheer sex?” in response to Torrance’s friends egging her “You’re having cheer sex with him!” Maybe they have to learn sometime.

So I see “Bring It On” as this: They should have cleaned it up and made it about competition and motivation rather than sex; or – gone balls out, made them college cheerleaders, and made the movie into a quality skin-flick to be shown on late night cable. It’s too bad sometimes that PG-13 let’s Hollywood tread that line. Maybe they need a PG-16 rating?

The competition scenes were great, the love story was nice, the bickering of high-schoolers was right on, and the poking at cheerleaders was cute at times. It’s too bad I felt a little dirty after seeing it. It’s 2 ½ stars out of 5, but I’d rate it at least PG-16.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!