Blood, Sweat and Cheer

Of course I had not heard about this 2023 movie titled "Blood, Sweat and Cheer" prior to sitting down and watching it here in 2025. But I have to admit that I wasn't exactly harboring the biggest of expectations to the movie. However, I still opted to watch it, as it was a movie that I hadn't already seen.

Writer Barbara Zagrodnik put together a storyline that was a bit far fetched and implausible. But still proved to be a fair enough movie, as it was a tad out there.

I was not familiar with a single actress or actor on the cast list, which was actually something that spoke in favor of the movie, as I enjoy watching new and unfamiliar talents on the screen.

Sort of a silly movie, given the storyline, but actually proved entertaining enough for how far out there it was.

My rating of director Traci Hays's 2023 movie "Blood, Sweat and Cheer" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Let's get this out of the way; this movie isn't deep or insightful or anything like that. And that's its greatest strength. It knows it's schlock and it wears that honor on its sleeve. The lead actress couldn't pass as a teen in her wildest dreams and that just adds to the hilarity, and seeing the cast trying to act around that is such a delight. It's a fun, cheesy, campy, "dramatic" romp of a narcissistic helicopter parent desperately trying to reclaim some glory and purpose, best enjoyed with friends, sugary snacks, and some soundproofing to muffle the laughter. They didn't intend for it, but it's one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while~

This was a fun movie in the vein of almost every Lifetime/Tubi film about high school and/or cheer. It didn't try to be Emmy-worthy, too deep, or even sensical, and for that I truly enjoyed it. My only complaint is that the casting was terrible. The lead actress looks great but she could never pass for a teenager, she looks very much like a woman approaching her 40's, so it's hard to believe so many people took her at face value as teenaged Cherie. But then, you look at the casting of the "real" teens of the movie, and you sort of get it. All the actors playing teenagers are clearly in their 20's or older, and it shows. Even the daughter looked nearly the same age as the mom. None of the people who are supposed to be youthful reflect that, they all seem too mature. I wish the casting went with someone like Bianca Lawson (or, to be a little biased here, any good POC actress since most tend to look younger than their age like the old sayings go) to play the role of the mother. That would've been convincing, but I guess some of the campiness and unbelievability would've been lost. Either way, I love over-the-top cheesy films like this, so I could overlook this flaw in a Clark Kent/Superman kinda way to enjoy it.

When this movie started I thought, "Oh, good; a comedy that is going to make fun of the whole "Cheerleader" TVM genre". Certainly the mom posing as a high school girl played it that way, at least at first. But then it devolved into the typical formulaic movie MarVista is known for. Nothing about the movie was even slightly believable. That would have been fine if they had played it that way and gone for a campy comedy. But no. You have the usual plot elements all these movies have, culminating in the usual quick ending with no follow up.

If you read the 10 star reviews here and expect some good campy fun, you are going to be very disappointed.

I really just wanted something fun and different to watch and I got it. The fact that the mom could in no way pass off as a teenager but everyone involved has no choice but to believe it is hilarious. The whole movie was made by those bangs. NO ONE would ever believe that was real hair and yet no one in the high school said a thing. The mom's temper tantrums were LOL and at the same time disturbing. Her sister is beyond annoying, who just goes into their relatives' house without first calling/knocking?! Rude. This movie is so ridiculously beyond being believable but that's the point, success!!