Bring It On is a funny, semi-satirical teen comedy about competing squads of highschool cheerleaders. Because the central focus is cheerleading, a uniquely American activitythat has had its share of derisive barbs thrown at it over the years, the movie is engaged in aconstant balancing act. On the one hand, there is a certain amount of parody aimed atcheerleading as an activity and the kind of people it tends to attract. On the other hand, mostof the major characters are cheerleaders, hence the movie cannot be too broad in its comicalstrokes lest it mock characters that are meant to be sympathetic.

The heroine is a perky senior named Torrance Shipman (Kirsten Dunst). Torrance has beennamed the new captain of San Diego's Rancho Carne High School cheerleading squad, whichhas won the national championship the last five years in a row. Torrance's life is unashamedlywrapped around her position as head cheerleader, despite nagging from her mother that sheshould take more college-prep courses and constant ridicule from her little brother. Whenanother character tries to blow off a cheerleading disaster by saying "It's just cheerleading,"Torrance replies in all sincerity, "But I am just cheerleading."

The dilemma Torrance must face is the realization that the Big Red, dictatorial headcheerleader whom she is succeeding (Lindsay Sloane), had stolen Rancho Carne'saward-winning cheers and dance moves from a talented group of all-black cheerleaders atEast Compton High. Naturally, the East Compton cheerleaders are not particularly pleasedthat a group of white-bread San Diego cheerleaders have been ripping off their ingenuity andcreativity and using it to win championships and get coverage on ESPN. Because the EastCompton squad plans to compete in nationals this year, Torrance knows that she has to scrapher squad's entire routine and build something from scratch.

At one point, this involves hiring a professional choreographer who turns out to be a snooty,Bob Fosse-wannabe "artist" named Sparky (Ian Roberts) who derides the cheerleaders whileteaching them a bizarre new routine of modern dance moves that have nothing whatsoever todo with cheerleading. The scenes in which Sparky, dressed all in black, stalks the gymnasiumlike a condescending Broadway director, hurling insults at the teenagers about their skilllevels, intelligence, and physique, is one of the movie's funniest scenes.

Bring It On also features an interesting relationship between Torrance and a recentlytransferred girl named Missy (Eliza Dushku), a rebellious gymnast who joins thecheerleaders because it is the only gymnastics-related outlet available to her. Missy's brotheris another rebellious soul named Cliff (Jesse Bradford), who catches Torrance's eye despitethe fact that she has an obnoxiously chipper boyfriend (Richard Hillman) who recently leftfor college. However, the most interesting relationship in the movie is the one most fraughtwith tension and distrust: the begrudging respect that slowly grows between Torrance andIsis (Gabrielle Union), East Compton's cheerleader captain.

The majority of Bring It On is typically bawdy humor, most of which works quitewell. Much of the slang-ridden dialogue between the teen characters is fresh, and it isdelivered with energy and humor. The movie also opens on a hilarious high note with a dreamsequence in which the cheerleaders do a routine in which they chant the often unspoken truthabout their existence within the high school social spectrum (Sample: "I jump! You can lookbut don't you hump. I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore. We cheer as we lead. We actlike we're on speed. Hate us 'cause we're beautiful--but we don't like you either"). It is ariotous moment of truth-bearing that is done with effectively blunt-edged humor.

In addition to the opening, director Peyton Reed puts together a couple of great sequences,most notably a prolonged scene in which Torrance, who is spending the night at Missy'shouse, and Cliff find themselves standing next to each other in the bathroom brushing theirteeth. There is no dialogue in the scene, but the manner in which they brush their teeth tells usvolumes about how they feel about each other. It is a sly, witty scene of innocent foreplay thatunspools like silent comedy, and both actors do an outstanding job of conveying hiddenemotions in how they wield a toothbrush and spit in a sink. It is a sublimely comical scene.

While it is a straightforward comedy, Bring It On walks a number of fine lines, mostnotably its plotline involving class and racial tensions between the Rancho Carne and EastCompton cheerleaders. The script by Jessica Bendinger deals with this uncomfortable topicfairly well, and manages to integrate it quite seamlessly into a narrative that is otherwise filledwith typically crude teenage humor. Bendin's script does a good job of empowering the EastCompton cheerleaders and making sure we understand that, just because they come from alower socioeconomic status, they are not charity cases. Everything they achieve, they achieveon their own merits.

For a teen comedy, Bring It On is surprisingly aware of class issues and doesn'tmind putting them up front (class issues are common in teen movies, but usually only infanciful terms of a rich kid falling in love with a poor kid, which invariably romanticizes thedifference). While most characters in teen movies live in luxurious suburban houses anddrive nice cars as if that is simply part of the normal adolescent lifestyle, Bring It Onforegrounds these issues by making it clear that not all teens live such a life (although all themain characters do). It isn't enough to make Bring It On a truly serious movie, but itdoes give rise to some thought that most teen movies are unable (or unwilling) to muster.

Copyright ©2000, 2001 James Kendrick