Have you ever watched the trailer for an upcoming film run on TV and thought to yourself, “This movie looks like direct-to-DVD trash. How the hell did it ever end up in the theaters?” Although this pre-judgment will usually end up being correct, sometimes a film will sneak up and surprise you. While “Fired Up!” is certainly not the next great teenage comedy, it manages to overcome a corny, clich?d plot and entertain audiences thanks to refreshing bursts of hilarity.
What is appealing about this film is its mockery of cheerleading movies, but it does not merely parody films in the same disastrous approach taken by flicks like “Date Movie” and “Epic Movie.” Instead, rookie director Will Gluck has the clever insight to directly mock the ridiculousness that are cheerleading franchises like “Bring It On.” Nowhere is this better portrayed in the film then when hundreds of girls at a cheerleading camp religiously list off word-for-word the dialogue from “Bring It On” as if the movie were their bible.
This does create problems at times, though, as newcomer Freedom Jones, in the process of poking fun at cheerleading movies, ends up writing a screenplay that suffers from common teenage comedy pitfalls. “Fired Up!” uses plot threads that have been done to death over the years, such as having the main characters act as stereotypical, sex-crazed teenagers.
In this film, the aforementioned characters are Shawn Colfax (Nicholas D’Agosto, TV’s “Heroes”) and Nick Brady (Eric Christian Olsen, “Eagle Eye”), two popular high school jocks who decide to ditch football camp for cheerleading camp upon realizing a two guy to 300 girl ratio better suits their horny needs.
Despite being trapped portraying formulaic roles, the comedic duo of D’Agosto and Olsen is what makes this film work. Throughout the movie, D’Agosto perfectly sets up Olsen, who knocks it home with an onslaught of hilarious one-liners. Although neither actor has had a lot of experience in a leading role, they constantly demonstrate in this film that they have what it takes to keep the audience laughing.
The film also features a couple of exceptional supporting performances. David Walton (“Stateside”) plays the college boyfriend of Shawn’s love interest with such douchey perfection that every line that comes out of his mouth is dripping with just the right amount of absurdity. Then there is the borderline psychotic Coach Keith, played by John Michael Higgins (“Yes Man”), who leads overly energetic cheers of “FU” — short for fired up, of course — and goes into nonsensical rants that run the gamut from botched Spanish words to politically incorrect innuendos.
Unfortunately, outside of these four characters, there is not a whole lot of anything going on. Even though the film features a seemingly infinite number of female cheerleaders, there is not one dynamic, humorous actress who has the comedic chops to keep up with D’Agosto and Olsen. What is worse is Jones feels the need to add a lot of unfunny, clich? characters to the mix, such as the Hindu kid with a thick accent, the foulmouthed curmudgeon football coach and the highly original gay male cheerleader. In the end, all these characters end up doing is taking away screen time from the film’s true stars.
What this film is truly missing, though, is an “R” rating. On numerous occasions, you get the feeling that jokes are being forcibly restrained within a “PG-13” confinement. While a film does not necessarily need a higher rating to be funny, a teenage movie more accurately reflects the subject it is covering if the dialogue and actions match what real-life teenagers would say and do. This is especially the case in regards to Olsen, who would have come off as an even funnier Seann William Scott (Stifler in the “American Pie” films) had he not had to constantly tone down his material to a “PG-13” level.
The lesson to be learned here is to not judge “Fired Up!” by its trailer alone. Sure, it may look like another crappy teenage comedy at first glance, and, to be honest, more often than not that is exactly what this movie is. However, the film does have its hilarious moments and, therefore, audiences will generally find themselves laughing and having an enjoyable time.
2 1/2 stars out of 5.
