Film Reviews

Stick It

• Rating:
• Director: Jessica Bendinger
• Starring: Jeff Bridges
• Details: US / 103mins (PG).

'I'm so sure, I'm practically deodorant.' Rebellious teenager Haley Graham (Peregrym) is given one last chance to reform when she is forced to enrol at an elite gymnastics academy run by the legendary Burt Vickerman (Bridges).Haley is not made welcome by the students, as she walked out on the Junior Olympic team years earlier - a move that lost them the gold medal - but Vickerman sets out to teach Haley some self-respect. Sound familiar? That's because Stick It is another movie that riffs on every other troubled teen drama of the last twenty years. What are the ingredients of a troubled teen drama? A rebellious teenager who needs a life lesson - check. A mentor haunted by an accident years ago - check. If 'from the writer of Bring It On and Aquamarine' doesn't put you off, the title alone should do it. This is Jessica Bendinger's directorial debut, and apart from the odd interesting shot (an overhead Busby Berkeley homage being the coolest), her film fails to stand out from the crowd. Mind you, it could have being a lot worse if it weren't for Bridges; God only knows why he's slumming it here, but he does give his by-the-numbers character a little depth. The same can't be said for Peregrym, who recycles every angsty teen since the dawn of film, but Stick It does say something about the archaic, dense approach gymnast judges have towards the scoring system. I suppose there's always that.

Review by Gavin Burke