Sunday, February 22, 2009
A+E, Movies, Reviews

Cheerleading comedy ‘Fired Up’ shows some spirit

The style hasn't changed much since Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello’s day

When they run out of horror “classics,” will they start remaking the “Beach Party” movies of the ’60s instead? There’s no beach in Southern Illinois, but the plots and style of “Fired Up” haven’t changed much since Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello’s day.

Best buddies Shawn and Nick (Nicholas D’Agosto, 28, and Eric Christian Olsen, 31, the oldest high-schoolers since “Grease”—or at least “90210”) play football for the Gerald R. Ford High Tigers, so they get all the girls they want—and they want a lot of girls. Instead of football camp, they decide to go to Cheer Camp, where they’ll be two of only four straight guys, to spend the summer with 300 females.

Nick and Shawn vow not to date anyone from their own school during camp, but Shawn starts bonding with Carly (Sarah Roemer, 24) on the bus and continues drawing closer to her until her “pre-fiancé,” “Dr. Rick” (David Walton, 30), a pre-med freshman, shows up.

Nick develops a serious crush on Diora (Molly Sims), the head counselor and wife of Coach Keith (John Michael Higgins), and makes her his goal, a maybe-not-so-impossible dream.

The camp culminates in a competition. The Tigers’ cheerleaders are perennial losers, and the team that always wins, the Peoria Panthers, won’t let them forget it—especially their bitchy leader, Gwyneth (Atlanta native AnnaLynne McCord, 21).

“Fired Up” pays homage to the queen of cheerleading films, “Bring It On,” with the campers doing a recite-along to the dialogue. Don’t expect this movie to have the same longevity, but it will entertain its target audience for an hour and a half. 2.5 STARS—Steve Warren