Review of But I`m a Cheerleader

Introduction

Natahsa Lyonne, fresh from her minor success in the amusing teen sex-oriented-comedy "American Pie", returned for yet another slice of the very same genre. Only this time, she wasn`t playing third or fourth fiddle to fellow second-rate-actors. Unlike the huge batch of 90s style teen comedies, this movie revolves around just the one character, and doesn`t contain multi-storylines. So Lyonne being the lead role, gets her chance to shine where such house-hold names like Biggs, Klein & Suvari all failed.

The premise is as absurd as it should be in the case of a movie like this. A popular college cheerleader (Megan-Lyonne), is accused by her dearest friends & family of being a homosexual, in result she is sent to the anti-gay rehab camp "True Directions". Here she slowly begins to come to terms with & accept her sexuality, and in the process, falls in love with her a newly found female friend, Graham (Clea Duvall).

Expectations weren`t exactly high for me with this low-profile release, which lead to me being pleasantly surprised at the end of it all.

Video

The movie certainly has a theme to it, and is conveyed brilliantly through the settings & props. It`s almost as if our characters are going about their lives in a barbie-world, lots of pink & various bright colors are implemented through-out the ENTIRE duration of the movie.

Coming at us with a frame of 1.85:1 in Anamorphic Wide-screen, it copes admirably with the difficult job presented. As I said, the movie has a real bright look to it, but the tone & contrast is perfect, with only the little evidence of grain demoting the overall grade. Not too bad.

Audio

The soundtrack sends out some really corny vibes, I mean this defines CHEAP. But that said, it`s crafted to well above average status in DD 2.0, which I`ve found to be rare with such low-profile releases as this. But there`s no major faults here, balancing in dialogue & sound is perfect. Now if I can just get those AWFUL lyrics out my head!

Features

Sub-standard to say the least. Tier zero features, which seem to be getting more common with region two releases, this comes with the bog-standard trailer & a "Making Of" featuretee. The "making of" featuretee also comes in an awful full-frame format, that looks no better than VHS quality. SHODDY!

Conclusion

Although "But I`m A Cheerleader" doesn`t rate up there with my favourite teen-based movies, such as "10 Things I Hate About You" & "American Pie", this proves a pleasant surprise, and a minor hit in its genre. The only thing I thought that held it back, was it`s lack of eye-candy, but maybe that`s just me being a male-pig. Still, a decent film presented on a not too shabby DVD, you may want to take a look.