But I'm a Cheerleader!
My girlfriend forced me to watch this because she thought it was about cheerleaders. I knew better, but I didn't complain.
The movie is about a girl (Natasha Lyonne) who everyone believes is a lesbian. Her parents stage a lesbian intervention, in which a ex-gay counselor wearing a "Straight is Great" t-shirt tries to get her to admit her unnatural lesbian tendencies.
"But I'm a cheerleader!" Lyonne replies.
Well, that sort of denial won't do. So Lyonne is shipped off to True Directions, a camp for gay kids to learn how to become straight. Cathy Moriarity plays the ex-lesbian leader of the camp; RuPaul, playing a man for once (and actually looking more or less like a man) plays her aide-de-camp.
Along the way, Lyonne learns a lot about her identity and, wouldn't you know it, finds a soul mate. A girl, of course.
Look, I was all set to despise this movie. Another preachy cookie-cutter liberal-pussy movie. But you know what? It's sort of cute and fun.
And it really isn't all that preachy. I suspect the reason liberal critics savaged it is because the film is fairly gentle in its depiction of good-intentioned but homophobic parents; it doesn't take out the blow-torch that I'm sure many liberals would've prefered.
Lyonne is not only a good actress, but she's compelling. Those big sad puppy dog eyes are gorgeous. And it doesn't hurt that she's pretty sexy.
The film goes on too long. The music, an ironically childish and chipper bit of xylophone, is cheap and repetitive and begins to gnaw at one's patience. The very, very long scenes of girls making out are neither "empowering" nor erotic; they feel both exploitative while simultaneously being boring.
But the film is fitfully funny, and when it isn't funny, it's sort of touching. Lyonne is a naturally sympathetic figure, and she's the sort of person you can't help rooting for. The film is often obvious in its targets and its humor and its plot; but there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that. Is it surprising that there's an Ex-Ex-Gay group that shows up halfway through the movie to try to re-re-educated Lyonne? Not surprising, but so what?
Now, bear in mind, I expected I'd hate this movie, so low expectations come into play. And remember this is a zero budget film; production values are entirely absent.
But, given that, I rate it a solid three stars out of four.
Correction:
Drop But I'm a Cheerleader! down to two-and-a-half stars. Let's not get crazy. This film is on par with the various passably-diverting-but-not-actually-good Saturday Night Live movies, like Lost & Found or Superstar.
