You've seen it if you have a girlfriend...

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2004)

As said, anyone with an average girly girlfriend has seen this movie at least once. Particularly if you have friends with girlfriends, or girls who are friends, and MOST particularly if this was around the time when there weren't many DVD's out and one of the only ones that people had was Bring It On.
Most likely, you've seen it two, three, or even four or more times. But that's alright, I've made her watch Predator 1½ times and next time she's gonna see either Full Metal Jacket, Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness, Die Hard, or one of my old backyard wrestling tapes. :)
This is one of those movies - along with You've Got Mail, Sense and Sensibility, Little Women, Roman Holiday, Pride and Prejudice, and Sleepless in Seattle - that has become a part of the canon of chick flicks. As a result, every boyfriend of such a chick must see them at least once, it seems. (Other movies such as A Walk to Remember, Sweet Home Alabama, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Princess Diaries, and some other Mandy Moore films are considered part of many chicks' canon, but the general orthodoxy is that they are considered apocryphal to the set canon, and thus not crucial. Has it become obvious I study theology?)
As for the movie itself: it's not bad, really. Many points I find quite enjoyable. The cheerleading scenes and choreography you have to admit are quite impressive, and the acting's good. The guys that aren't the lead aren't just portrayed as brainless horndogs (horny though they are) and the lead guy is actually cool. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but doesn't discredit itself either. It's quite funny and pulls off many of the jokes without a hitch. The plot's original and keeps you interested, and even the romance is surprisingly interesting.
So no real complaints, it was really enjoyable and a well done film. If it wasn't part of the canon I'd even actually consider it a good movie. But it is part of the canon, and as a result of which I have seen it too many times, and thus even though I like it I cannot give it a good score. This one's for all the dudes out there who've seen it a lot.
1½ stars. Lift ya fist, brothers!