Stick It 2006

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune: Where Bring It On found fans well outside its theoretical demographic, Stick It is unlikely to follow suit. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Yes, we're in the world of elite gymnastics, and Jessica Bendinger's Stick It is an enjoyable exercise in girl power. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: It's a credit to [writer/director] Bendinger's attention to the little details that make Stick It feel so unique and entertaining -- poking fun at elite-level child athletics while still respecting its young characters and their feelings. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: I love Jeff Bridges, but watching him mumble and stumble his way through this part, I wondered if maybe he was up before a judge who gave him two choices -- jail or starring in a really bad gymnastics movie. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Tween and teen girls will love it, though. And regardless of age (or gender), it does make you want to put down the Junior Mints and head to the gym. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Fake punk-rock has its own visual language, and the opening minutes of Stick It--movie about that most punk-rock of sports, gymnastics--piles on the "Do The Dew" cliches Read more

Kathy Cano Murillo, Arizona Republic: Stick It isn't groundbreaking material, but at least it keeps its balance. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Stick It is a melodrama that doesn't know when to turn off the waterworks. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: The film strives for some type of a girl-empowerment message that equates trading one type of conformity for another with self-determination but muffs the dismount and stumbles on the landing. In other words, it fails to Stick It. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The film is as bland as an Afterschool Special. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Bendinger, who wrote for rock magazine Spin, has figured out a way to salute female competition and unity. Read more

Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly: A deliriously, defiantly unfocused headrush... Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Stick It doesn't have an original bone in its buffed body. It's been molded from all the sports-as-salvation movies that Bring It On so adroitly spoofed. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: There are some great gymnastics stories out there. This isn't one of them. Read more

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly: ... uneven teen sports drama ... Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: An indelicately titled but inventive, energetic fable about reconciling reality and roaring egos, it is a movie almost totally reliant on well-developed character, quick-witted repartee and mercurial relationships. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: A spirited, dizzyingly athletic movie about female rites of passage within the bitchy, competitive world of Olympics training. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Rarely is a sports movie so inept that it can't even make its central figure likable. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Writer-director Jessica Bendinger, an ex-model, veteran of Sex and the City and fun girl comedies, throws away more good lines than most teen comedies can muster. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Stick It uses the story of a gymnast's comeback attempt as a backdrop for overwrought visual effects, music videos, sitcom dialogue and general pandering. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: In terms of eye candy, Stick It is a feast. Unfortunately, the film is a famine in just about every other regard. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Jason Anderson, Globe and Mail: Unfortunately, [Jessica] Bendinger's directorial debut is far more formulaic [than Bring It On]. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: There is a positive message in the film, often obscured by the bogus punk attitude. Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: Star Missy Peregrym shows more promise in her first feature, despite the fact that her teenage years are clearly behind her, and her charismatic screen presence enlivens an otherwise dull film. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Stick It may be tough to stick out unless you're a girl between the ages of 11 and 16. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: The use of the prim but rigorous world of women's gymnastics as a setting for teen rebellion is so strained it leaves the pic's ode to personal authenticity feeling as phony as a dubious decision by a competition judge. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: Is it a movie or an episode of Real Sports? It veers into fresh territory but not dramatically satisfying territory. Read more