It’s Not Called ‘Gym-nice-stics’: Jessica Bendinger’s Stick It
Providing a fresh and funny perspective on double entendre is writer/director--and Austin Film Festival regular--Jessica Bendinger's (Sex & The City, Bring It On, Aquamarine) Stick It, an up-to-date take on elite girls’ gymnastics.
Haley Graham (Missy Peregrym) runs with the boys. She dresses like one. Takes risks like one. Even talks back to authority like one. She’s the perfect heroine in a film that uses this Spandex-lacquered-to-your-butt-cheeks-with-Tough-Skin sport as an analogy for the real-world issues faced by young women.
Haley just put her BMX bike through a plate-glass window at a McMansion building site in Plano, Texas. A juvenile judge is sending her to Vickerman Gymnastics Academy in Houston. Given the choice, she would have taken military school. Enter Coach Burt Vickerman (Jeff Bridges), a burnout former gymnast soliciting dreams of Olympic gold to starry-eyed parents of tumbling preteen girls.
A back story unfolds regarding Haley’s unexplained walkout years before at a championship meet. In a confrontation with the prodding Vickerman, Haley declares “I wasn’t great, I was obedient. I’m tired of being judged!”
At the academy, Haley learns control of her tricks--and control of her life—without bending to convention and dismissing her personal innovation. Rather than operating from the usual teen movie cliché, Stick It finds a new avenue towards a solution that doesn’t compromise the integrity of its central character. Haley earns the respect of her teammates and convinces them to send a message to the system: “We all want to win, but should we really be fighting each other?”
The glimpse into the world of competitive young women is realistic. A voiceover from Haley compares it to Navy Seals training: What gymnasts do is just as tough, “We just do it without the gun.”
The sacrifices of the sport are evident, but not clobbering. On entering the coliseum for their biggest meet, the four elite team members see “normal girls” flirting with boys. One asks, “What do they have that we don’t have?” In rapid succession her teammates answer: Lives. Time. Boobs.
Quick-witted and hip dialogue is Bendinger’s trademark. Vibrant and colorful art direction matched with an eclectic soundtrack give the training and competition sequences an updated appeal.
Missy Peregrym is endearing as the misunderstood outsider. Jeff Bridges can’t help but be wonderful as the tough coach with a chewy center. Strong supporting cast, including Julie Warner, Polly Holliday, and Svetlana Efremova (think crazy Russian foster mom from White Oleander) create a fast-paced world that’s dizzying in its delivery.
"Sticking it" may be the best way to finish the perfect routine, but according to this film, it’s also what girls should be saying to a judging, exploitive establishment.
Stick It opens today.
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