Stick It
So I finally watched the recently released gymnastics movie called “Stick It. I was extremely hesitant to rent it. Stick It was produced (?) by the same people who did the cheer leading move Bring It On.
When Bring It On came out, I was a high school cheerleader, so of course I had to see it (I actually OWNED it). There were several things in Bring It On that bothered me. First was the foul 
language and crude humor. There were more than enough inappropriate jokes. The other things that bothered me were the inaccuracies of high school cheerleading. The cheer squads in this movie were doing moves only allowed in college cheer competitions. These so called high schooler’s were doing huge basket tosses with flips (which is grounds for disqualification in high school cheerleading competitions). Also, I don’t know that ANY of the actresses were actual cheerleaders, and most of the stunt and tumbling were done by “stunt men”. Lastly, the story line was a little lame and uncreative… a girl who
was a gymnast who never had cheered before (hey like me) makes the squad, the struggles to make it to nationals, trying to beat out a “Cinderella” squad who they hate, but then end up being friends with in the end.
So, when Stick It came out, I was a little concerned. I don’t care about cheer leading enough to let Bring It On really bother me… BUT to taint my beloved gymnastics…. that would bother me. Finally, last night I decided to rent it at Red Box. When the movie first started, I was
a little confused; it started out with this girl doing extreme bike riding, getting in trouble with the law, and getting sent to a school called VGA. So, where’s the gymnastics? Ohhh, VGA stands for Voight Gymnastics Academy and is some kind of gymnastics gym/high school. Anyway, you soon learn that the biker babe, Hailey, was a retired elite gymnast who choked at the Worlds gymnastics competition, and walked out before competing her last event, and lost the gold medal for the US team. All the gymnasts HATE her for it, and, in turn, Hailey hated gymnastics. How ever, she is forced to do gymnastics to fulfill her “Sentence”. Anyway, the story line is actually pretty interesting. Trent even came in the room a few times to catch a few parts. You just have to watch it.
Okay, so how did it compare to Bring It On? I was surprisingly satisfied. Most of the actresses were gymnasts, and at the competitions, several gymnastics played themselves (Nastia Lukin, Carley Paterson). Therefore, the gymnastics moves were accurate. The routines the gymnasts performed were accurate, as far as I could tell, for the elite level of gymnastics. Also, the gymnastics competition scenes were exactly like all the gymnastic competitions I have ever seen. Even better, the foul language and inappropriate behavior was pretty much non-existent. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie! I enjoyed the story line, and watching all the gymnastics! So, two thumbs up from me, I recommend it to all gymnastics lovers!
One of my favorite quotes from the movie:”Gymnastics tells you no. All day long. It mocks you over and over again. Telling you- you’re an idiot. If you like pulling pieces of skin the size of quarters of your hands- bars is for you. Because the only thing more fun then rips, is when your rips get rips. It’s super sexy. And floor, are you serious, who doesn’t want to parade around in a leotard getting wedgies and doing dorky choreography. If you like falling, then gymnastics is the sport for you! You get to fall on your face, your butt, your back, your knees, and you’re pride! It’s a good thing I didn’t like falling- I LOVED IT!”