Bring It On

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

We had a hard time rating this movie, because 20 minutes into it we fell so hard for Eliza Dushku that our perception from that point on was completely tainted. In fact, we were about to tell you that Bring It On is a laugh riot that’ll do for cheerleading what Rocky did for boxing.

But we’ve calmed down a bit. Eliza’s performance as bad-girl Missy aside, Bring It On isn’t serious enough to be funny-bad, and not campy enough to be a guilty pleasure. It ends up being fluff—but fluff with locker room action and a gratuitous bikini car-washing scene nonetheless! And did we mention it’s about cheerleaders? Kirsten Dunst is cute and plucky as Torrance, the put-upon captain beset with hardships as she attempts to lead her team to the national championships. The movie scores some legitimate laughs (Upright Citizens Brigade vet Ian Roberts is funny as hell as evil choreographer Sparky), but just becomes too earnest for its own good. But then there’s Eliza’s cute and sexy tough girl act…sigh. Oh, what the hell—let’s give it four stars.

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