While Universal Pictures' latest comedy, "Bring It On," briefly touches on such matters, asking for a meaningful or in-depth exploration of that issue is clearly a bit much for this film that's about as substantial as a pompom. I don't know whether such attitudes and preconceived notions have changed much over the intervening years, but such subject matter could make for an interesting film, or at least a parody of one about guys participating in and/or trying out for a spot on the pep squad. While his participation probably would not have had much impact one way or the other on his life today, most of us at the time - at least the guys - vehemently tried to talk him out of doing so, simply because being a male cheerleader wasn't considered a cool thing at the time, not that there was anything wrong with it (to paraphrase the characters from "Seinfeld"). That is, at least until my roommate nearly tried out for the squad under the influence of his girlfriend of the time. Being a full-blooded teenage male, however, my attention never focused on those types who weren't in skirts. Whether that was just an anomaly of my high school district isn't clear, but it wasn't until college where I first witnessed guys on the coed cheerleading squad. OUR TAKE: 4 out of 10 Back in my formative scholastic days, high school cheerleaders were definitely one hundred percent of the female persuasion. And she must do that all while dealing with her conflicting romantic feelings for Aaron and now Missy's brother, Cliff (JESSE BRADFORD), who obviously has eyes for her as well. When that ultimately backfires, it's up to Torrance to keep the squad - that also includes male cheerleaders Jan (NATHAN WEST) and Les (HUNTLEY RITTER) - together and design a new routine for them before the national championships. Realizing they need a new routine before the regional cheerleading competition, Torrance takes Aaron's advice and hires flamboyant dance choreographer Sparky Polastri (IAN ROBERTS) to dream up a new routine. Led by Isis (GABRIELLE UNION), their squad captain, the Clovers arrive at Torrance's San Diego-based school and show up the Toros during a home football game. It seems that Big Red previously stole it from an East Compton squad, the Clovers, who know of the theft. Not all of the others are happy with Missy joining the squad, and that gets worse when she delivers some bad news to them upon seeing their elaborate cheering routine. Whitney (NICOLE BILDERBACK) have lobbied to have Whitney's younger sister join the squad, Torrance is most impressed with transfer student Missy Pantone (ELIZA DUSHKU), an opinionated young woman looking for an outlet for her gymnastic prowess. While conniving fellow cheerleaders Courtney (CLARE KRAMER) and Whitney Things get off to an inauspicious start when one of the cheerleaders is injured, thus necessitating tryouts for a replacement. She's sad that her boyfriend, Aaron (RICHARD HILLMAN), has just left for college, but is ecstatic that she'll be taking over the head duties of the Rancho Carne High School cheerleading squad from the outgoing captain, Big Red (LINDSAY SLOANE), who helped lead the Toros to five previous national championships. ![]() PLOT: Torrance Shipman (KIRSTEN DUNST) is a high school senior whose life is undergoing some changes. QUICK TAKE: Comedy: With the national championships approaching, the high school captain of a five-time, national champion cheerleading squad scrambles to invent a new routine when she learns that their existing one was stolen from an inner-city squad. ![]() Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film. If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button. (2000) (Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku) (PG-13)
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