After wrecking a dream home while performing a daredevil bike stunt, rebellious teen Haley (Missy Peregrym) is ordered by the judge to enlist in a gymnastics training program. Sure, that happens ... in the movies. The same sort of movies where "bad" girls wear Black Flag T-shirts and sass the coach (Jeff Bridges, always a pleasure). Jessica Bendinger, who penned the cheerleader hit
Bring It On, makes her directorial debut with this teen comedy (cut with a dash of drama) that flirts with exposing gymnastics for the brutal, nasty business it is beneath its pretty exterior. But Bendinger opts to stay perky ... Haley doesn't just rejoin the team, she helps everyone learn lessons about teamwork
and individuality.
Stick It bubbles along, though fans of the sport may be disappointed by the chip-chopped routines, and everybody else will wonder why, in a chick-flick, the two loser guys get all the best lines.
(AH)