Sunday, February 22, 2009

Fired Up! - 2 1/2 stars

There is a lot wrong with this movie. I'm not sure I feel good about myself for recommending it. But I have to admit that I liked it. I laughed a lot, and I think the two lead actors (Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen) were very good together. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this movie, or at least see the actors team up again. They play a couple of high school jocks who decide to blow off football camp in order to go to cheerleader camp. They figure since they have banged just about every girl at their high school, this will give them a chance to hook up with girls from other schools.

First, what's wrong with this movie? Well, its PG-13. A teen sex comedy should not be PG-13. The material isn't intended for young kids. Based on the subject matter, I would consider the movie to be rated R. This is not a movie I would take my mom to, or take a kid to. This is a movie for a group of friends to go to. And the audience for this movie would appreciate some nudity (although I have to admit, the way they got around swearing was kind of funny - they came up with some pretty good alternate curse words that are better than 'fetch').

Also, this movie rips off every other romantic comedy, especially Wedding Crashers. See if this sounds familiar: the two guys come up with a way to score with as many chicks as they can, one of the guys starts to fall in love with a particular girl, she has a boyfriend who is a jerk, said boyfriend eventually reveals what the guys are up to, the guys are told to leave, they do, the guy misses the girl, he decided to go back and get the girl.

As I was watching it, I was thinking I hope the boyfriend doesn't tell the girls what the guys are up to. For a minute, it seemed like the movie wasn't going down that road. When the boyfriend says they are only here to pick up girls, the girls say "we know." But then the boyfriend produces a piece of evidence that reveals a bit more, and the girls all get pissed. Even though they need the guys to compete in the big cheerleading competition, they tell the guys to go away. I knew the guys would go away and return just in time to help the girls compete.

Another thing wrong with this movie is the guys are already successful with the ladies. From the first scene, we see they are able to get any girl they want. So we don't really root for them. The story would have worked better if the guys were unable to hook up with girls. Then we would be rooting for them to finally get some at cheerleader camp.

But there were some things I liked. Besides the leads, John Michael Higgins was very funny (as always). Philip Baker Hall and Edie McClurg were in it, but they were underused. The girl who played the younger sister was very funny, and the best scene was when all the cheerleaders watched Bring It On. Just like a bunch of Star Wars nerds, they were able to quote every single line.

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