The Toro cheerleading squad from Rancho Carne High School in San Diego has got spirit, spunk, sass and a killer routine that's sure to land them the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row. But for newly-elected team captain Torrance, the Toros' road to total cheer glory takes a shady turn when she discovers that their perfectly-choreographed routines were in fact stolen.
The tart, taut script by first-time screenwriter Jessica Bendinger is stuffed with such deliciously mean dialogue.
– Michael O'Sullivan,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
The problem with the film is that others have done its routine before, and have done it better.
– Vicky Edwards,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Dunst can't really hold pic together.
– Robert Koehler,
Variety,
14 Feb 2001
fresh:
Who would have thought that a film about competing cheerleading squads would turn out to be the one very pleasant surprise in this very dismal summer season of moviegoing?
– Kevin Courrier,
Globe and Mail,
19 Mar 2002
fresh:
This earnest and arch story -- so fast paced its formulas are wonderfully obscured -- has an adolescent energy and a tempered sexuality, and it's infused with the moral agenda of a warmly didactic sitcom.