Before his Ant Man acclaim, director Peyton Reed rocked the world with pom poms and killer cheer routines. Bring it On (2000) explores cheerleader culture through the Toros, a cheer squad based out of Rancho Carne High School in San Diego and lead by Kirsten Dunst’s Torrance. Torrance, having inherited the position through a senior member’s leaving, learns that the squad has been stealing routines from a rival squad, the Clovers, lead by Gabrielle Union’s Isis. What follows is a teenage comedy filled with love, rivalry, and friendship enclosed in a surprisingly sincere, heartfelt effort on first-time film director Reed’s part.

Bring it On is deceptively simple. While it paints itself in the fine-tuned gloss of a teenage fluff piece, there’s a surprising amount of satire and social commentary hidden within. The film addresses aspects of privilege illustrated through the relationship of Dunst and Union and uses cheerleading as a backdrop for satire and parody of shamelessly indulgent teenage films of the early 2000’s. This isn’t to say the film is without fluff – it’s still a run-of-the-mill high school story. But what Bring it On lacks in narrative innovation it makes up for in self-aware invocation of one-dimensional characters and generic happy endings.

Bring it On
2000
dir. Peyton Reed
99 min.

Thursday, 8/11 @ 7PM, Coolidge Corner Theatre
Part of the ongoing series: Rewind!
35mm