Mena Suvari in a cheerleading outfit. That's why I bought this movie. I'm not ashamed to admit that. This movie has more than just Mena in a cheerleading outfit, though -- it has several other attractive young ladies in cheerleading outfits.

Mena aside, this is just a fun and entertaining movie. There are some people who would call this movie lame and silly, but who cares about those overly serious people? All movies don't have to be dramatic passion plays that enrich and inform our lives. Sometimes, there is nothing better than a good, "dumb" high school movie, and this is one of the better ones.

A group of "A Squad" cheerleaders end up robbing a bank in order to help support the unborn twins of the head cheerleader, who continues cheering into her seventh month of pregnancy. In the process, hilarity ensues. It's a funny movie, and that is all it is intended to be. It's no Best Picture contender, but it provides a welcome escape from reality.

For obvious reasons, I'm sure this movie will appeal more to male viewers than to females. The girls in this movie are gorgeous, especially Mena (of course). In a way, this movie portrays young women asserting themselves, working together to accomplish their goals, so maybe there is some educational value in it. Or maybe not. It annoys me to see other people saying things about how this movie could be a bad influence on youngsters. So the main character gets pregnant and ends up getting her friends to help her rob a bank. If there has been a rash of pregnant, teenaged cheerleaders dressing up as Betty dolls and robbing banks since this movie came out, it's news to me. This is comedy, folks.

The cast is great, and one reason they are all great is because they all overplay their characters to maximize the levels of satire and comedy. It is an insult to today's youth (which I am slightly too old to still be included with, unfortunately) to claim that a film such as this is going to "influence" them to be immoral. Today's youth understand comedy and entertainment; they know you should not take everything in life too seriously. They also know that a movie does not have to "make a point." This movie made me laugh, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. In my book, that makes it a great and successful movie.

- Rambles
written by Daniel Jolley
published 13 August 2005