Fired Up!

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I come neither to praise nor bash Fired Up! Here's the type of movie, in the right mood, I might be perfectly fine finding at 1:00am on Comedy Central. If you're a fan of the straight-to-DVD American Pie films you should feel right at home.

The basic set-up for this male cheerleader recruitment film involves two high school ladies men (played by 28-year-old Nicholas D'Agosto and 31-year-old Eric Christian Olsen) who skip out on football practice for a chance to join the squad and go to cheer camp with the hopes of scoring with as many cheerleaders as possible.

Those looking for the level of writing of Bring It On will be disappointed, though Fired Up does include a fun scene involving the entire camp watching that film. In fact the movie is filled with some pretty funny moments, and, unlike the previously mentioned American Pie flicks, keeps the level of raunch to a minimum (as much as you can in a film about guys trying to bang as many cheerleaders as possible).

I call it a cheerleader recruitment film because the film strongly suggests there is nothing better than being a straight male cheerleader. The film points out most cheerleaders are athletic, beautiful, not too bright, horny as hell, and basically willing to sleep with whoever is convenient. Now imagine a camp filled with such women and you're one of only four straight guys within miles. Compared to two-a-days out on the football field in the hot Texas sun it sounds like heaven. Hell, compared to a bucket full of cash it sounds pretty damn good.

Although the film has all the depth of Van Wilder it does have some heart. The two bucking "young" studs do learn to respect both cheerleading and women. Awwwwwwww.

Of course the film does go through many of the dumb teen comedy motions complete with one of guys falling for the head cheerleader of his school (Sarah Roemer), facing up to a deception that nips their burgeoning feelings in the bud, and dealing with her douchebag of a boyfriend (played by David Walton with half the charm of Chet from Weird Science).

Fired Up doesn't score any points for brains, acting, or originality, but let's face it that's not the reason you go to a flick like this. What it does deliver is plenty of hotties in cheerleader uniforms, some fun moments, dumb humor aplenty, and more than a few groan-worthy contrivances. Is it a good film? Not really. Is it a fun time? For the right audience (and you know who you are), sure.