By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * )
Little sister of Coyote Ugly, this stars Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides) and Gabrielle Union (She's All That) as captains of rival cheerleading squads — one from a ritzy San Diego suburb and the other from a mostly black high school in East Compton,
LA.
Dunst's team is the defending national champion. Union comes to their practice one day to reveal that the captain before Dunst stole all the winning routines from East Compton. The nationals are coming up. In a panic Dunst breaks the rules and hires a professional choreographer (Ian Roberts).
Cue standard teen-movie subplots: the cool guy who is somebody's brother, the snotty teacher, the nasty who gets hers, will the heroine end up with the guy she likes despite massive idiot misunderstandings?
Not to mention the cheerleading backstabbing, condescending treatment of the black school, the big climax at the cheerleading competition which allows the producers to recycle all movie gimmicks involving the Big Game.
And at the end you have a rather nasty little piece of work which, like Coyote Ugly, seems to say: Bimbo is good.
Running time: 95 mins
Rental: Today
