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At first it seemed that "Fired Up" would be nothing more than a "High School Musical" movie sans music, but this film — albeit complete with cheerleaders, football players and, well, not much else — is much, much more than just a high school drama.
That's not to say this DVD is without its share of conflict or that its characters escape parody. Shawn (Nicholas D'Agosto) and Nick (Eric Christian Olsen) have several hats to wear as their school's jocks/players/pretty boys. The guys spend their free time hooking up with girls, talking about hooking up with girls and trying to hook up with girls.
But when the two boys grow bored with their school's "selection," they decide to ditch football for cheerleading and join the Tigers' squad. Naturally, Shawn and Nick have an ulterior motive: to find new females at summer cheer camp before they head off to a friend's house for their typical drunken festivities. But the change of summer pace comes equipped with a task, and the two new cheerleaders have to bend over backwards to convince cheer captain Carly (Sarah Roemer) they really are interested in the activity.
Of course the two guys end up successful in this endeavor; otherwise there would be no movie. Only after Shawn and Nick arrive at Fired Up cheer camp do the real games begin. And only after they arrive at cheer camp do the two best buds show themselves as individuals. Shawn is the quiet, more reserved of the two, the not-exactly sidekick to Nick. Shawn is dubbed "the smart one" but lets his friend do the leading. Nick is the outgoing leader of the pack who juxtaposes a "way with words" with a blunt approach to conversation.
But until they touch down at camp, both guys pose as womanizers without a cause, who both fight for the same cause: to get girls. Nevertheless, the winds do change. Surrounded by enthusiastic, peppy cheerleaders, Shawn actually takes to the sport. It helps that he's infatuated with Carly, but we still know that he's trying. As for Nick, who has somewhat worse luck hitting on Diora (Molly Sims), a cheer coach and woman almost twice his age, cheering doesn't exactly hold his interest, and when it comes time for the guys to bail early, as they had planned, Nick is more than ready to hit the road.
"Fired Up" has two claims to fame: character development and humor. While Shawn and Nick's metamorphoses are pretty predictable, it's still interesting to watch them happen. It's kind of like reading a good book you've already read. And we've all read the one about the teens whose ulterior motives in fact change their perspectives.
"Fired Up" is funny and not necessarily in a slapstick way. It's the subtleties — the girl who always makes an offbeat comment, the inarticulateness of the head coach, Carly's boyfriend's obsession with Crocs and the logo on the back of the camp T-shirts — that inspire laughs. As for outright humor, the guys' bunkmate Brewster (Adhir Kalyan) brags an absolutely hilarious performance, and cheers like "We Are Driving!" and "We Are Eating!" deserve a few chuckles.
The acting in this film is neither outstanding nor terrible; it fits the bill for a teen parody movie. Characters like Doctor Rick, Brewster and even Nick are certainly exaggerated, all the better to enhance the satirical aspect of this movie.
But satire or not, "Fired Up" has substance. Although it revolves around high school and its related melodrama, the picture is anything but shallow. Its message, though laced with comedy and predictability, transcends the high school hallways. The movie is easy to relate to in its exaggeration and simplicity of plot, and any student will get a kick out of the film.
"Fired Up" is a great rental for anyone who wants to sit back, relax and enjoy a truly funny comedy. I give it three cheers.
E-mail: freestyle@lnpnews.com
