Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Bring It On: All or Nothing

Peach’s Picks Rating


Title:
Bring It On: All or Nothing

Production Information:
Universal Studios Family Productions and Beacon Pictures
Director – Steve Rash
Producer – David Roessell
Writer – Alyson Fouse
Production Designer – Simon Dobbin
Director of Photography – Victor J. Kemper
Actors – Hayden Panettiere, Solange Knowles, Gus Carr, Marcy Rylan, Cindy Chiu, Giovonnie Samuels, Francia Raisa, Gary LeRoi Gray, Danielle Savre, Jessica Nicole Fife, Jake McDorman, and Rihanna as herself
Music – Transcenders
Rated PG-13 for sexual humor and language

ISBN:
No identification number available

Copyright:
2006

Length:
1 hour, 39 minutes

Plot Summary:
This is a fast-paced movie with an ensemble cast. It tells the story of Brittany, a spoiled white girl living in a wealthy area of greater Los Angeles. She attends Pacific Vista High School where the student body is predominately white and unaware of life outside their small world. Brittany is a senior in high school, blonde, perky, captain of the school’s award-winning cheer squad, and dates the football hero (whose crude sexual advances are continually rebuffed). She comes home from school one day and learns that her father lost his job and the family is moving to a lower socio-economic area of Los Angles about an hour away from where she presently lives. Brittany will be attending school at Crenshaw Heights High School. The new high school and the diverse students she meets create a cultural shock for both Brittany and the students at Crenshaw Heights. Friends are hard to come by, but finally she is accepted on the school’s cheerleading squad. At the end of the movie the Crenshaw Heights squad faces the Pacific Vista squad in an all-out, no holds barred cheer contest. The winner will perform in pop-star Rihanna’s next music video.

Critical Evaluation:
The characters are flat and stereotypical, however the main characters do grow and change during the course of the story and become more accepting of one another. The plot is predictable. Even with those criticisms, the movie is fun to watch. Brittany finds a new romance, Jesse, at Crenshaw Heights who is a more honorable person than her former boyfriend at Pacific Heights. Also, Jesse is a boy of color, rather than the stereotype rich white football player. The story is not what drives this movie. The cheer moves and the dancing drive the movie and hold the viewer’s attention. The sound track makes the viewer want to get up and dance. The DVD includes the following extras that will engage teens, especially when dance moves are explained: “Gag Reel” showing how the movie was made; “Cheer Camp” showing the cast learning the moves; “Break it Down” and “From the Street to the Set” showing the viewer how to do the cheers and dance steps with attitude. The movie had quite a bit of product placement offering advertising messages to unsuspecting teens.

Viewer’s Annotation:
Wealthy and spoiled, Brittany is living the good life as a cheer captain with a star football player for a boyfriend. Through a change of fortune she finds herself attending another school in a working class part of Los Angeles competing against her old cheer squad and the competition is vicious.

Author Information:
None available

Genre:
DVD – comedy - sport

Curriculum Ties:
None

Movie Talking Ideas:
If you want to pick up some new dance moves, check out the “Bonus Features” of this DVD. Clear instructions set to great music are provided.
Romance, drama with friends, cheerleading, and dancing are bringing it on in this fast-paced DVD.

Reading Level/Interest Age:
Ages 14-18

Additional works by Director and Script Writer:
Steve Rash also directed the movies Road Trip: Beer Pong (2009), Bring It On: In it to Win (2007), among others

Alyson Fouse also wrote the following for the following television programs among others: Til Death (2010), Wanda Skyes Show (2010)

Challenge Issues:
Sexual humor and language
Deal with challenge by having a challenge policy in place, selection policy in place (ALA policies). Meet with library administration if necessary.

Why this work is included in Peach’s Picks:
This work is included in Peach’s Picks because the YA Librarian at the local branch of the public library recommended it saying that the movie is very popular with teen girls. After considering the movie and “Bonus Features” I decided to award it three peaches. The movie is fun, but it also stereotypes teens and contains an excessive amount of product placement. The dance information provided in the “Bonus Features” segment is an area that teens will enjoy.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Bring-All-Nothing-Full-Screen/dp/B000FS9MXS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272131767&sr=8-1

References:
IMDb. (2010). “Bring it on: All or nothing”. IMDd. Retrieved March 30, 2010, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/

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