stick it

scoboco did the deuce* on saturday night to see the teen-flick stick it in a surprisingly crowded theater... and even more surprisingly, it was crowded with groups of guys and couples and older women. anyway, the three of us laughed (bo and co more than me) and were charmed by the movie's visual creativity and gave it about a 9.3.

the basic story: a young-ally-sheedy-looking girl gets busted for trashing a $14k window while doing bmx tricks, and the judge forces her to choose between military school and vga (at which point boco both leaned in to me and asked "what's vga?!"). she choose military school, but is sent to vga.... vickerman gymnastics academy! anyway, she's totally selfish and rude until she realizes that being selfish and rude isn't a great way to live, and so becomes more of a team player and learns valuable life lessons and teaches valuable life lessons to her fellow students and athletes and, of course, to jeff bridges, in a what's-he-doing-here? role as her coach.

her two stoner male friends provide a good amount of comic relief. the music is up-to-the-minute and nicely done. all the adults (except for the coach and the judge) are seriously miserable human beings. and i must say that the mechanics of the dramatic-competition-finale are totally different from every other sports/contest story you've seen... but, to my mind, took all the drama (however forced it may be in other movies) out of it. i did like the overall message, though: that some rules really ARE stupid; that creativity and innovation should be rewarded over playing it safe; that teenage girls are great and should stick together. if they really want to stick it. and stick it to the man. or something.


* i know nostalgia for a bygone new york is total dime-a-dozen stuff, but as we waded through the tourists and "calligraphy" hucksters, etc., i made a conscious effiort to try to really remember what 42nd between 7th and 8th was like in the late 70s early 80s--pornos, action flics, martial arts weapons shops, beer and cigarette stores where everything was behind filthy plexiglass, shady characters galore--and couldn't quite pull it off. not that it was "better" back then--i never walked that block without someone trying to rob me--but it sure was different.