It's got a great cast and has some truly inspired comic moments, but perhaps the biggest reason that the high-spirited sports comedy, "Bring It On" works is that it doesn't fall back on any overused teen-comedy formulas. It deserves at least three cheers.
New
on video and DVD, the film tells the story of Torrance (Kirsten Dunst), a newly
anointed captain of a perennial national championship cheerleading squad. But
her bubbly personality is quickly deflated when she discovers the old captain
stole routines from the Clovers, an inner-city squad led by the smooth and
confident Iris (Gabrielle Union).
The title, "Bring it On," of course, refers to Torrance and Iris' challenge to each other to bring forward their best, and the tension works wonderfully on screen. Fortunately, both were able to let go with the greatest of ease.
"In the movie we're in each others faces all the time, but when he (director Peyton Reed) yelled 'Cut,' we were laughing, joking and hanging out," Union (TV's "City Of Angels") told me in a recent interview. "Once the next shot was set up we were back to 'grrr.'"
Of course, while the purpose of the film is to have fun, "Bring It On" has a lot more to offer than meets the eye. It's not a dance flick created to show off flashy shots and quick edits, but rather a story with real character dilemmas. The look at the sport – that's right, the sport – of cheerleading is far from superficial, and it's evident in the film that participating in it is serious business.
When I think of athletes, I think of basketball, baseball and football – cheerleading never really entered into my definition of what an athlete was," Union said. "But after doing the movie, I realized I worked harder training for that movie than I did all of the years I played basketball and soccer in high school. The amount of physical and mental stress your body is under is pretty intense."
In addition to the physicality of the sport, "Bring It On" also addresses an important issue with a vital subplot in the film – equal opportunity. She said it's a side of the sport that is very rarely looked at.
"It's one of the most expensive sports to participate in," Union said. "You have to pay for coaching, uniforms and travel to competition. It was one of the things we wanted to touch upon in the movie – under normal circumstances, you need to have the means to get to the end, which is the national championship. So if you go to a poor school that doesn't get a lot of tax dollars and your parents don't have a lot of money to kick in for extra curriculars, you're not going to make it.
While
Union was only a cheerleader in real life for one year (eighth grade), it was
her experience of seeing that lack of opportunity that moved her to join the
squad, in a sense, for "Bring It On."
"I remember going to basketball camp, and cheerleading camp was going on at the same time," recalled Union. "During our breaks, we'd watch the cheerleaders and secretly be pulling not for our own squad from our high school, but for the inner-city schools. It was funny though, that they would never make it past the first or second elimination rounds, and it wasn't until I did the movie that I started to understand that if you don't have the money for the right coaches, training or anything else, you're not going to make it.
"So when the script came along, I read it and the role of Iris was so strong," Union described. "She's from the inner city, but she's not a finger-snapping and head-swiveling girl. They allowed me to help create a character that is layered and has dimensions. In Hollywood, we usually fall for what I call the 'okey-doke' -- where it's a lot easier to play with the stereotype than it is against it. Fortunately for this movie we were allowed to play against it. I got so many 'thank yous' from young girls for showing another side."
Of course, now that Union has had the wonderful opportunity to play a layered character, it raises the bar for other scripts that come along. Fortunately, she's secure for at least the next two projects.
"I've been very lucky, the same man (Gary Hardwick) who helped re-write some of the Clovers material for 'Bring it On' also wrote a really great script for my next film, 'The Brothers,'" Union said. "He again allowed me creative license to help shape my character. It's great that I didn't have to wait too long for something else to come along where I got to be a little bit more free in how I was able to depict a strong African-American female."
Due in theaters in March, Union describes "The Brothers" as a "male version of 'Waiting to Exhale'," starring Bill Bellamy, D.L. Hughley, Shemar Moore and Morris Chesnut. "Since Hardwick was smart enough to hire some pretty dynamic women opposite these great guys, I think it became a well-rounded love story rather than just a story told from the male perspective."
In addition, Union just wrapped filming on the romantic comedy, "How to Make a Man Behave in 10 Days or Less."
"It's a great title, but kind of unrealistic," Union said, laughing.
In that movie, she's plays a spoiler opposite Vivica A. Fox. "She sees herself as ambitious and goal-oriented," Union said of her character. "And the goal happens to be somebody else's man."