Bring It On : Movie Review


It may be intended as a teen comedy, but many critics are suggesting that there is a lot that adults will like about Peyton Reed's Bring It On, starring Kirsten Dunst as a high school cheerleader.

Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal, for example, writes: "You might not expect a movie about cheerleaders to be witty or wry, let alone thoughtful, but Bring It On is that."

Kevin Courrier in the Toronto Globe and Mail also finds much to cheer about. "Who would have thought that a film about competing cheerleading squads would turn out to be the one very pleasant surprise in this very dismal summer season of moviegoing?" he writes, adding that the film "is simply a beautifully crafted piece of commercial filmmaking."

Susan Wloszczyna in USA Today begins her review this way: "Give me an F, give me a U, give me an N-N-Y. What's that spell? Bring It On, a surprise late-summer bright spot."

The chorus of cheers do contain a few off-notes, but of all the leading critics, only Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times sits on his hands.

In fact, much of his review winds up as an attack on the motion picture ratings board for allowing this film to be released with a PG-13 label. He concludes his review this way: "The MPAA's principle seems to be: As long as we act sanctimonious by creating a climate in which legitimate adult films cannot be made, we can get away with maximizing the box office by opening up the PG-13. The MPAA in the summer of 2000 reveals itself as more willing to peddle smut to children than to allow adults to make their own choices."

Author : Studio Briefing