Rating: 
Summary: Good fun, but that's all...
Review: I like to review the film by itself and then the DVD...Film - Very funny movie, good acting, writing and directing. Great costumes as well. Unfortunately, Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall have little chemistry. This is especially disappointing considering how talented these two actresses are. Cathy Moriarty is a bit type-cast in her meanness. I definitely suggest this film as a rental, not to be bought. As funny as this film is, the jokes don't last past the first or second viewing. DVD - Once again, the independent film gets shafted when it comes to bonus features. At least this film has a chapter list and language options, which some other DVDs lack. The only other feature is the trailer. Don't be fooled by the picture of the welcome screen found on the back of the DVD -- the text "Bonus Materials" is replaced by "Trailer" when the DVD is actually played.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie for the open minded
Review: I love this movie, I managed to buy it despite the fact that my whole family is homophobic. It is an awesome movie, I think it is good for teenagers because it is less seriouse then other lesbian movies. Almost all of the characters are a gay and lesbian stereotype, including the all famouse lesbian softball player and the gay wrestler. The movie is about a girl, Megan, whos friends and family suspect she is a lesbian and send her to a gay camp called "true Directions" in order to turn her straight again. She ends up falling in love with other camper Graham Eaton who is played by the wonderfull Clea DuVall. It is a great movie, very funny at times, and very seriouse a others. It is a good movie for anyone, gay or straight. Even if you dont like the plot line, the soundtrack is awesome and the cast is very easy on the eye. So everyone should watch it.
Rating: 
Summary: Cute and Hilarious Fun!
Review: I really really enjoyed this gay cinderella story. Even though, the rest of America didnt enjoy this movie, because it wasn't released nationally, but I saw it when it came out in NYC and I absolutely loved it. It's was a cute satrical look at the coming of age gay girl in many middle americans, that just dont know that they are. So the main character's mom sends her to a camp to be straight again. This is where the fun begins. The camp is full of different characters each portraying some gay stereotype one way or another. Certain scenes will leave you chuckling to yourself or laughing out loud. Clea Duvall is always an enjoyable sight, but she has to be careful before she's type cast. She's already played a few lesbian characters before. Natasha Lyonne was such a believable, closeted gay character that you cant help, but laugh at her funny looks of confusion. Rupal is hilarious and is great as a man as he is in drag and it was good seeing him without the wig for a change, but the funniest character, Eddie Cibrian, who plays Rock, a gay guy trying to be masculine for his mother, Cathy Moriarty who is the head of the camp. It's funny seeing him flip flop back and forth from being butch to queen. This is definitely a movie worth checking out and something not to be afraid of watching. It's good exposure.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: I thought this was a fun film. It was a promising comedy, however contrary to what the Editorial Review states "that goes awry too early", I think the film does deliver. The film deals with difficult subject matter and it does so with the finesse of a rubber chicken. "But I'm a Cheerleader" is a coming of age story with a twist. The acting is fantastic. Sure, sometimes the story is a little absurd, but it can't be any more absurd than real life bigotry and homophobia.
Outside of all the politically correct stuff, it is a good film about first love, being yourself and following your heart. I recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Depends Upon Your Need ...
Review: If you're in need of proclivity-evaluation, need reassurance that it's okay to be you despite others who would repress you ... or perhaps just generally yearn for a romantic comedy with gay characters ... then BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER does everything it's supposed to do. And in that regard, it also serves as polished, professional filmmaking. But if you want a movie that's entirely gratifying on its own terms (even a gay-themed movie), look elsewhere. There's a confusion of tone -- sometimes it's light comedy, sometimes it's John Waters-type camp, sometimes it's more humanist comedy-drama -- and it's not as if those different aspects can't co-exist (Josh Whedon's series BUFFY and ANGEL, for example, mix storytelling styles constantly) but these relatively young filmmakers haven't found the balance here. Ultimately the biggest disappointment of the film is that, by the end, it feels slight. The story is a slender, attenuated one, and the message is delivered with such a sledgehammer approach that the phrase "preaching to the converted" comes to mind. (You wonder how effectively CHEERLEADER can soften prejudice when the victims are painted as total innocents and the repressers are painted as total idiots ... ) In any event, BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER is mild and harmless and maybe a nice thing for some confused kids to encounter and ultimately forgettable.
Rating:
Summary: I give it 4 cheers...
Review: It's one of the funnier and more clever gay/lesbian flicks to have come out in recent years. It is the story of Megan (Natasha Lyonne), a prissy high school cheerleader who is disgusted w/ kissing her jock boyfriend and likes to fantasize about her cheerleader gal pals. Her family and friends suspect lesbianism is the culprit. And while Megan never really shows any major "lesbian tendencies", her parents list a few wacked stereotypes of what they feel is lesbian behavior. They are afraid that if they don't act fast, she'll be lost forever. They send her to the True Directions Rehabilitation Camp for Homosexuals - or like her mother calls it, "Homosexuals Annonymous". The camp is run by Mary, (Cathy Moriarty) who founded the camp, probably to make up for failed attempts to convert her son Rock (Eddie Cibrian). Ru Paul (out of drag) plays a camp counselor and is an ex-(but obviously still gay)-gay man, who is secretly attracted to Rock. But he'd never admit to it. Megan herself doesn't feel that she is a homosexual and she comes to the realization in an interesting manner, yet she feels it will be easy to be "fixed" so she could go home. Once in the process of becoming an ex-gay, Megan actually develops lesbian desires - or at least comes completely out of the closet to herself and falls for her roommate, Graham, an outsider rich girl with an attitude. And they clash in the typical 'good girl meets bad bo--oops I mean girl' -- story and they fall in love. But True Directions will have none of that! And make every ridiculous attempt at making them "normal" fun-loving heterosexuals. Not so much serious as it is funny, But I'm A Cheerleader throws out some of my favorite lines like Clea DuVall's "I'm Graham, and I like girls. A lot! (smile)" Or "Get caught in the throws of sodomy, and it's 'au revoir'". And NaTasha's off the wall "Underground homo railroad" comment that had me rollin'. It makes fun of gay sterotypes and homosexual conversion camps that obviously don't work. A little over the top and goofy at times, which is why I liked it. Good for some laughs...
Rating:
Summary: A cheerleader and lots of camp go to an anti-gay camp
Review: Megan Bloomfield (Natasha Lyonne) thinks she's the 'all-American' girl. After all, she's pretty, popular, has a boyfriend and also is a cheerleader.
So it honestly comes as a big surprise when she is declared a homosexual and sent to rehabilitation camp. Her parents and friends have used her vegetarian diet and musical taste in Melissa Ethridge to proactively decide that she 'must' be a lesbian. The audience also sees that she does not like kissing her boyfriend very much at the beginning of the film.
Right down to the sugary sweet sessions and obsession with strict gender roles, "True Directions" is a lampoon of 'ex gay' programs which gullible parents still send their kids to. Rupal, one of America's most famous drag queens, makes a hilarious cameo appearance as 'Mike'.
Far from 'curing' Megan of her sexuality, this program actually strengthens her conviction that it is how society views them and not the sexuality itself which actually is unhealthy.
During the counseling sessions, the founder Mary (hilariously played by Cathy Moriaty) actually suggests that people are turning to homosexuality only because they do not understand proper gender roles and/or might have lived through the experience of a mother working outside the home.
Megan does manage to find love at this camp. She meets Graham (Clea DuVall) who does not even attempt to follow the "True Directions" program.
Since her own parents will literally kill her if she remains a lesbian, Graham represents conscious political resistance in this otherwise homophobic environment because she is comfortable with who she is and recognizes the program is garbage.
The relationship between Meghan and Graham is sweeet.
Rating: 
Summary: Cheerleader has no balls
Review: My God, where to start? The premise of the movie was weak at best, and probably looked better on paper, anyway. The movie is too silly to be drama, but not funny enough to be a comedy. I tried to view it as a satire, but in doing that, I was only overwhelmed by the over-the-top stereotypes. This would normally put it in the burlesque genre, but again, it did not fit, because it tried to be serious at times. The girls were fairly neutral, but the guys were as close to imitating Richard Simmons as you can get without bursting into flames. If this was pro-gay - then it failed miserably. Gays do not need this type of buffonic support. There were a few interesting casting choices such as Richard Moll - with hair, and Dante Basco who I know from a few Wonder Years eps. RuPaul, as an ex-gay, worked for one or two scenes, but was generally weak. The little costumes the guys wore, the self-spanking antics of the son of the reform school director...was too much. This is as bad as Lost and Delirious, but in a different way. At least they don't run around quoting Shakespeare.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favourite movies.
Review: Not a movie that's meant to be taken terribly seriously, but a one that's fun to watch and one which at moments catches you off-guard with its insight. Natasha Lyonne stars as a cheerleader who hugs her friends too much, can't stop thinking about her fellow squad members while she's kissing her boyfriend, is a vegetarian, and has a poster of Melissa Etheridge on her wall. Her parents, boyfriend and friends decide that she needs to be straightened out, and send her off to True Directions, a sexual rehabiliation camp where she will reclaim her true heterosexuality. Girls wear pink, boys wear blue, and they must participate in a five-step program to relearn their gender roles and their sexuality. The problem, of course, with putting a bunch of lesbians in the same (pink, pink, pink!) room is that you're bound to have some attraction. The object of Megan's affections is the moody Graham, played by Clea DuVall. (At which point most of the audience decide that this is going to be a very good movie indeed. ;)) Megan fights her attraction but soon accepts that she is who she is. Graham, despite acting brave and proud of her sexuality ("I'm Graham and I like girls. A lot.") is under pressure from her parents to 'get it out of her system' with the threat of no college fund or support of any kind if she doesn't. Megan turns out to be the one who's not ashamed of who she is - and the question is whether Graham will follow her or not... the answer to which can be found in the movie, so let me take this moment to highly recommend that you buy it. The soundtrack's fabulous, as well. Not available on CD, but try to get your hands on the mp3s, because there are some truly amazing songs featured in the movie. All in all - great movie, with some funny moments, some touching, some silly, some beautiful. 10/10.
Rating:
Summary: Lightweight and extremely entertaining
Review: Possibly one of the best gay & lesbian interest comedies in recent years (far eclipsing the sentimental and condescending 'Jeffrey' in terms of likeability), 'But I'm a Cheerleader' charts the story of a teenager's coming-to-terms with her homosexuality, via a summer camp that attempts to train gay teens to be straight. Natasha Lyonne gives an extremely endearing performance as the hapless Megan (she's a comic actress of note: her timing is excellent and she has one of the most expressive faces of recent years), who is trying to please her family & friends by becoming straight. Cathy Moriarty gives a typecast (but excellent) performance as the Joan Crawford-esque camp leader and a fantastic cameo by a drag-free RuPaul as an ex-gay Camp Leader completes the ensemble cast. The script is simplistic but does the job, and the real joy of the film lies in the likeable visual cliches of the 'True Directions' camp - the blue and pink dormitories, the plywood silhouettes of men doing manly things, and the debutante-like graduation party at the end of the movie all come together to make something sweet, lighthearted and genuinely funny. Highly recommended for all fans of comedy, 'But I'm a Cheerleader' is a very charming, lighthearted look at the effects of peer pressure. (Also, to note, a cameo by Mink Stole as Megan's mother - from 'Pink Flamingoes' and 'Serial Mom' to possibly the most unglamorous woman on the planet!!)
| 
