By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.75
Director: Jamie Babbit
Starring: Camilla Belle | Edie Falco | Elisha Cuthbert | Martin Donovan | Shawn Ashmore
Country: united_states
Year: 2006
Running time: 96
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414951/reference
Michael says: “This disappointing follow-up to Babbit’s entertaining debut, BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER has trouble deciding what it wants to be; a campy comedy, a tense thriller, a serious family drama, or a horror film. What it reminded me most of is the Canadian low-budget horror flick, GINGER SNAPS, but without the werewolf. When Dot is sent to live with a foster family, the hearing-impaired, teenaged girl finds a heap of dysfunction beyond her wildest dreams. Paul, the family patriarch, is unsure as to why they’ve taken Dot in when they have their own handful in teenaged daughter Nina. His wife Olivia is a spectator in her own family, retreating to drug use whenever her stress level rises (which is often) and trying desperately to reach out to a husband that has little use for her anymore. Nina is popular at school, filled with attitude, and has little time for Dot except to make fun of her. But when the people around her realize that they can confess their sins to Dot, they fell a lot better and she cant hear them… or can she? What starts as in intriguing film swiftly devolves into ham-fisted dramatics and horrifying violence. Camilla Belle does her best with Dot, and Edie Falco and Martin Donovan are strong as Paul and Olivia, Babbit can’t lift THE QUIET out of its overblown and poorly constructed story. 1 ½ cats.”
Chris says: “That frankly awful title should’ve tipped me off, but no, I had to see Jamie Babbit’s long awaited follow-up to BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER. What was most disheartening about this deaf-teen-in-suburbia-teeming-with-secrets thriller is that it had so much potential to be thoughtful and multifaceted, or at the very least, gloriously trashy fun. Plus, the cast is decent (especially Edie Falco, loopy without seeming ridiculous) and the characters are all well-drawn. But the convoluted plot turns make POISON IVY look like PSYCHO and the eventual denouement deflates all the tension building up with a lazy shrug. As Scot noted, the film also cheats (and more than once at that). 2 cats”