Two out of four stars (Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, partial nudity, language and some teen partying) Running time: 90 minutes. Reviewed at The Woodlands Tinseltown 17 on February 20.
Walking into the mega-stadium for a barely attended late afternoon show of “Fired Up,” I happened to glance up at the sign above the entryway doors that said it all: “2 Guys—300 Girls—Now there’s something to cheer about!” Yes, that just about said it all. I knew what I was walking into beforehand—another raunchy teen sex comedy.
Perhaps this genre owes its origin to the inadvertently hilarious mental hygiene films that misbegotten teens suffered through in the public schools in the 50s and 60s—“Are You Popular?” was my particular favorite, though the message obviously never stuck.
Some brilliant Hollywood studio bigwig came up with the idea of featuring clean cut Elvis Presley as an action hero, only to pause long enough to lip-sync several songs. Then teen movies moved to the beaches in California, where Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello romped in the sand centered on some lame-brained plot involving bikinis, bikers like Eric Von Zipper, and musical performances from the hottest acts.
This was all innocent, family-friendly fare suitable for drive-in movie theaters. Then came the release of “Animal House” in 1978 followed by “Porky’s” a couple of years later. Both movies brought in the element of raunchy sexual hanky-panky that has evolved today into what some might think is R-rated material but manages to fly under the radar to earn a PG-13 rating in order to help boost ticket sales.
In a script credited to the pen name Freedom Jones (don’t confuse him, her or them with O. Henry), two sexually supercharged high school football players shirk summer training camp in hot El Paso in order to attend a three-week cheerleader camp at a college in downstate Illinois.
Shawn (Nicholas D’Agosto) is the more sensitive one of the two while his partner-in-crime Nick (Eric Christian Olsen) is an incorrigible womanizer. I wondered where I had seen Mr. Olsen before—he has a Jim Carrey rubbery face with a Kato Kaelin blonde coiffure. Then it dawned upon me—this is the same actor who played Lloyd Christmas in the “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd” prequel six years ago. Ye gad—how old are these actors playing teenagers? Oh, never mind.
Following formula like a science experiment, the two end up at cheerleader camp. Shawn becomes smitten with cheerleader captain Carly (Sarah Roemer, a strawberry blonde clone of Gwyneth Paltrow), who knows the score.
Meanwhile Shawn is attracted to camp counselor Diora, the hottie wife of blowhard camp leader Coach Keith (John Michael Higgins).
That’s the plot in a nutshell, barely enough to fill 90 minutes. To fill in the gaps we are subjected to a skinny-dipping scene, cheerleader routines with halter tops and tight shorts, gay and lesbian bashing, misogynistic humor, and a blaring soundtrack.
I’ll credit the sometimes-smart dialogue that suggests a modicum of brainpower is at work: the students attend Gerald R. Ford High School—“a below average president with above average students.”
Even John Lennon gets a mention—“You know what John Lennon said, “ Carly remarks to Shawn during a walk. “Not really,” responds Shawn, “I’m not in my 50s.”
Were Lennon alive to hear his lyrics being used in a teen comedy, he might respond, “Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar, mama.”
