By John Garces/entertainment editor
In the teen comedy Fired Up!, two high school football players ditch their football camp, talk their way onto the cheerleading squad and go to cheer camp instead.
On the surface, this movie might appear to be just another cheerleading movie in the realm of the Bring it On series, but surprisingly, it has its moments, even if they’re overshadowed by the rather shallow plot line of two guys going to cheer camp for the sole purpose of “hooking up” with as many girls as possible.
The cast, full of mainly unknowns, pulls off what they were asked to do, led by the characters of Shawn Colfax and Nick Brady, the two main characters played by Nicolas D’Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen, respectively.
The majority of the cheerleaders in the movie are bit players with the lone exception of the character Carly, played by Sarah Roemer, who starts out against the idea of Shawn and Nick joining the squad as she knows their true intentions for joining.
She eventually changes her mind when her teammates inform her that two guys on the team could help the perennially last-place team finish higher in the cheer competition.
Despite the appearances of the film, a nice little love story develops between Shawn and Carly with him trying to win her away from the clutches of her overbearing and obnoxious boyfriend Dr. Rick, played annoyingly perfect by David Walton.
Dr. Rick, a college guy, decides to crash the cheer camp with his two equally obnoxious buddies and then hangs around when he senses Shawn moving on his girl.
While that storyline has potential, there’s also the predictable rival-cheer-squad story as the Tigers, Carly’s team, face off yet again with the Panthers, the best team at camp, who never waste an opportunity to rub it in how good they are.
While Shawn is trying to win the head cheerleader, his buddy Nick tries to win over Diora, the wife in the husband-and-wife cheer coach duo at the camp played by Molly Sims.
With three storylines all playing out over the course of an even hour and a half, it was surprising how it all came together with everything resolving itself at the cheer competition held at the end of the movie.
While most would classify this as just another cheerleading/teen movie, it was fairly entertaining in some parts.
And while it spent too much time trying to be crude, it wasn’t at all terrible.
Unfortunately, because of the genre it caters itself to, there’s a certain age where movies like this just won’t appeal to people.
Unless someone falls in that certain age group, Fired Up! is probably not worth the time.
