But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
Runtime: 90 mins
Box Office: $175,182
Synopsis: The girls wear pink and the boys wear blue in BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER, a film billed as a comedy about sexual disorientation. Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is a happy-go-lucky cheerleading teenager in the suburbs when suddenly her fairly normal behavior (vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge poster,... The girls wear pink and the boys wear blue in BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER, a film billed as a comedy about sexual disorientation. Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is a happy-go-lucky cheerleading teenager in the suburbs when suddenly her fairly normal behavior (vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge poster, reluctance to make out with her boyfriend) makes her suspect in the eyes of the community. Megan's super straightlaced parents (Mink Stole of John Waters fame and Bud Cort from HAROLD AND MAUDE), fearing that their precious "little poodle" may be a lesbian, promptly ship a befuddled Megan off to True Directions, a homosexual rehabilitation facility. Unable to take the first step required by the program--admitting that she is in fact gay--Megan butts heads with camp leaders Mary (Cathy Moriarty) and Mike (RuPaul out of drag). Soon enough, Megan finds proof of her heretofore unknown attraction to girls when she falls for Graham (Clea DuVall), a sexy tomboy and fellow inmate at True Directions. Megan's brightly colored and slightly unreal world gets even odder as an unlikely romance blossoms in the least likely of places. As Graham and Megan grow closer, the film's unique comic twists and visual stylization expose the absurd nature of society's rigid social and sexual codes and create an endearing and hysterically funny love story at the same time. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, Michelle Williams, Melanie Lynskey
Screenwriter: Brian Wayne Peterson
Producer: Andrea Sperling, Leanna Creel
Composer: Pat Irwin
DVD Info
Release:
Jul 22, 2003
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
- Single Side - Single Layer
Audio:
- Dolby Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
- Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
The movie blows it by (A) trading in witless stereotypes and (B) not being remotely funny.
Broadly conceived and schematically directed (or is it non-directed?), this is a shallow satire, basically a short extended into feature length movie, about a rehabilitation camp for gays and lesbians that wastes the talent of Natasha Lyons.
But I'm a Cheerleader may seem too elementary to a sophisticated crowd
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