Fired Up!

Kudos to the casting agents for this one -- it's fun and lively and moves along steadily to the predictable happy ending, but along the way the dialogue is snappy, witty, and oddly believable. Why so? Hard to believe, but it was the great chemistry of the two bromantic leads! They play off each other perfectly, and because they're sharply versed with each other, it's instantly believable that they're also sharply-witted with others. It's rare to have the sex-hungry jock teens be intelligent too (smart jocks? Who'd buy that?), yet it works! I bought it, I laughed (a lot!) and I never reached a point where I thought the lead characters had stepped to a point of groan-ness. So kudos to the casting, and the lead actors themselves -- should the chance happen again, I'd gladly see another comedy with these two -- they make a good 'bro' pair.

I remember when I first saw the trailer for this teen comedy flick a couple years ago I thought I'd never ever watch it in my life. Little did I know it was actually quite entertaining and funny. The TV spots were even more disadvantageous to my cinematic tastes. Even so, it was recommended to me by a fellow movie buff, so I gave it a peek.

Fired Up! starts out at a fictitious high school in Illinois. Ironically the mascot for the team is the same as my high school alma mater, the Tigers. Although it didn't take place at the same high school in Illinois, the field and school logo resembled some nostalgia. This film is basically about two popular high school football players that have the bright idea to attend cheerleader camp. "2 guys. 300 girls. You do the math." Not knowing what they're in for, they actually end up having feelings for two of the cheerleaders and enjoy cheering. I know, it sounds kinda like a romantic comedy at this point, but it's really not. Throughout the movie the two jocks crack jokes and seduce girls at an alarming rate. It's quite entertaining really.

Nicholas D'Agosto plays the dark-haired fellow named Shawn Colfax. He's appeared in several small TV roles and more recently in movies. I'm most familiar with him being Hunter from NBC's The Office, who is Jan's receptionist (Michael Scott's boss at the time). Haha that musical CD his character had during the Dinner Party episode was hilarious. D'Agosto will also be appearing in Final Destination 5 this August. The trailer looks pretty cool. I thought D'Agosto did a fine job in Fired Up!.

The other blonde-haired jock is played by Eric Christian Olsen, his character's name is Nick Brady. He's most notably from 2001′s Not Another Teen Movie where he plays "The Cocky Blonde Guy." Makes sense.

The director of Fired Up! is Will Gluck. Although I have never seen it and probably should (probably cause it's a rom-com), he directed Easy A, starring Emma Stone. He also directed Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, which comes out next Friday, July 22nd.

Overall I thought this movie was great for our generation of Millennials. As unfortunate as it may be we grew up with MTV and silly slap-stick raunchy comedies. I can totally understand why the critics gave it a bad rap. As reluctant as I am to rate it a "Four Star Rating," it will only be getting a six. The acting was sloppy and the only thing that kept me interested at times was all the cheerleading eye-candy.

6/10 Stars.

Fired Up looked like a stinker based on its premise "2 guys 300 girls" - but it is much wittier and fresher than expected.

It's all pretty silly and juvenile but at least it does so with a great sense of fun and doesn't take it self seriously.

Lots of innuendo, sex banter, but nothing too serious ,and it really is pretty funny stuff.

A good cast who can carry this off with panache and a definite sense of sporting fun - it is part pastiche of sporting movies - all help the time whiz by.

All in all if you want a fun movie for a pizza night and its a mixed group this actually works well. Not 100% a guys movie at all.

I reluctantly went to a private screening of this the other day, and found myself laughing quite a bit. Although the premise is as lame as it gets, it's the characters that save this one. They poke at high school stereotypes most of the time, which I found pretty dull, but there are many moments where the lines are executed hilariously making it entertaining for the most part. If you've seen Eric Christian Olsen from other movies and enjoyed his faces and humor, you would find this one amusing as well. The acting is definitely not the best I've ever seen, seems way too forced at times, and the situations can get kind of ridiculous, but like I said- for me, it wasn't how the movie set up the humor, but the animated expressions and characterizations throughout that made me sit through and still enjoy this one. Still worth watching at least once, in my opinion.

If you're looking to raise your Intelligence Quotient a few points, you're probably not going to want to devote much time to "Fired Up!" (if anything, you're likely to LOSE a few points if you commit yourself to watching it). If, however, you're in the market for an endearingly mindless, good-natured sex romp, then you could do a whole lot worse than this low-budget teen-movie parody, written by Freedom Jones and directed by Will Gluck and featuring a cast of high-spirited youngsters who make up for in energy what they lack in marquee-name value.

Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen play two high school football jocks who are clearly more concerned with scoring off the field than on. To that end, they sign up for a cheerleader camp where they'll have all the hot young babes they could possibly want just for the asking. Before you know it, however, along with perfecting their lifts and splits, the two horny lads have discovered a sensitive, caring side to their personalities that they never knew existed before.

There isn't much to be said about "Fired Up!" except that it manages to be racy without being raunchy, inane without being flat-out stupid. Indeed, in the final analysis, it's the open-hearted innocence and lack of smarm that make this one enjoyable.