 Bring It On, 2000I'll admit, I had trouble seeing this movie. My wife made me order it for her, she was dying to see it. We both enjoyed (a lot) Drop Dead Gorgeous, and we both knew this film would have a similar feel. She wanted to watch it. I wanted to hide.That said, I really enjoyed this movie. When it comes to writing, the viewer is on familiar territory with the competition, the two warring factions, the strife inside the group... but Jessica Bendinger (her first produced script) did a bang-up job, specifically with the different characters and their dialog. There are many similarities to Drop Dead Gorgeous. Especially with Kirsten Dunst in both films... you get the sense that you've been here somewhere before... if that makes sense. After her role in Interview with the Vampire, her career blew up, starring next to Robin Williams in Jumanji and moving on to Mother Night, Anastasia, Wag the Dog, Small Soldiers, The Virgin Suicides, Dick, The Crow: Salvation and playing what should be one of the biggest roles of the year 2002, Mary Jane Watson in Spiderman. She did a fantastic job in this movie, working incredibly well with all of the other actors and actresses and, by the way, kicking all kinds of ass as a cheerleader. The choreography work for this group was fantastic, all thanks to Anne Fletcher who has done work in some of Hollywood's great movies. There are too many actors and actresses to name here, but they all did a fine job, with no weak performances among them. I will mention two actors that were at the forefront of this film. Eliza Dushku (who played Dana Tasker in True Lies, and who is in the new Kevin Smith film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) and Jesse Bradford (My Blue Heaven, King of the Hill, Hackers, Romeo + Juliet) both did very fine jobs. There characters were fun to watch and both brought a great feel to them. Director Peyton Reed has worked only in television, prior to this film. I can't say "It shows" because it doesn't. The film flows without any rough spots or hills or slow pacing. This to his credit of cutting out scenes that are present on the DVD. Neat scenes, but Peyton was never more in the right then cutting them out. The DVD is chock full of really neat stuff. From a Making Of documentary to a commentary by Reed, deleted scenes (with Reed explaining), extended scenes, never-before-scene footage, wardrobe and makeup tests and a really neat feature that runs while you watch the movie called Did You Know That?, an animated anecdotes addition that pops up during the film at specific points. Real neat features. Is it worth owning? Cheerleaders? Midrifs? I mean, great DVD extras? Hell yes. J.P.
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