Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

But I'm a Cheerleader Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 4, 2021

Two pretty deadly serious films about so-called "conversion therapy" (i.e., "pray the gay away") have crossed my review queue over the years. Both Boy Erased and The Miseducation of Cameron Post had some really effective moments, and both shared some obvious commonalities, including stories centered on religiously conservative families who felt one of their own needed "help" to cure "sinful" behaviors. Both The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Boy Erased shared one other aspect, namely that they were both released theatrically in 2018, capturing a certain cultural zeitgeist that had become more and more apparent over the course of time, but perhaps surprisingly (maybe even shockingly), almost twenty years before another film had broached this potentially perilous subject, and as a comedy, no less. But I'm a Cheerleader seems to want its cake and eat it, too, in a way, in that it's intentionally broad, arguably even downright campy, but it also is striving to make some sober points about sexual preference and gender roles. The result is something of an odd mishmash with an enjoyably cartoonish production design and some fun performances, but perhaps neither enough laughs nor enough real insight, other than the expected emphasis that "being yourself" is always the best choice, no matter what the outside world in general or your family in particular may think about it.

Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is a young high school girl who is a cheerleader dating football player Jared (Brandt Wille), but an early vignette documents that she tends to think of her fellow cheerleaders when Jared is attempting unsuccessfully to thrust his tongue into her mouth in a car make out session. That little "reveal" may in fact have been a mistake, since it clarifies a "truth" of which Megan herself may not be consciously aware. Megan's ultra conservative parents Peter (Bud Cort) and Nancy (Mink Stole) have been conspiring in the background with a number of Megan's friends, including Jared, and Megan soon finds herself in an "intervention" since a number of other "clues" that Megan has been straying from the heterosexual straight (no pun intended) and narrow have not escaped their notice, including little things like Megan being a vegetarian and liking Melissa Etheridge. A counselor named Mike (RuPaul, billed here as RuPaul Charles) has come to take Megan to True Directions, a conversion therapy camp run by a harridan named Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty).

Megan is introduced to the camp's "five step program" as well as some of her fellow camp members (prisoners?), including Graham Eaton (Clea DuVall), whose toughness might be thought of as what straight folks might consider "traditionally" lesbian. Other cohabitants include kids of both genders, but the film arguably provides types instead of characters, with Megan and Graham being two notable exceptions. On the periphery of the main story depicting the growing relationship between Megan and Graham are a number of other sidebar personalities, including Mary's ostensibly hunky son Rock (Eddie Cibrian), who is of course gay himself. Two "graduates" from Mary's house of horrors, Lloyd (Wesley Mann) and Larry (Richard Moll), who have ended up as a kinda sorta happily together gay couple, also show up to offer support, inviting umbrage on the part of Mary and her acolytes.

But I'm a Cheerleader is audacious, and it certainly deserves bonus points for a really distinctive production aesthetic that can probably instantly be gleaned from even a cursory glance at some of the screenshots accompanying this review. But I'm not all that certain its central conceit could ever be properly sustained, not in terms of any potentially questionable content making conversion therapy humorous, but in terms of providing characters who are largely living cartoons, which kind of automatically removes any real human emotion from the proceedings.

But I'm a Cheerleader Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

But I'm a Cheerleader is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is billed as the Director's Cut, and having never seen the Theatrical Cut, I can't opine about the differences, but I'm wondering if some of the slight but noticeable variances in quality may be due to an alternate element utilized to reincorporate footage. That said, by far the vast bulk of this presentation offers a really gorgeous accounting of the film's almost astounding looking palette, one which any quick look the screenshots accompanying this review will reveal is almost drowning in pinks, greens, blues and occasionally oranges. Detail levels are generally commendable, especially in some of the sun drenched outdoor material. There are a few moments where grain doesn't resolve as tightly as in the majority of the presentation, and occasionally it can attain a slightly silverish tint, especially in some of the darker material.

Note: Interestingly, posts in our Forum thread devoted to this release indicate people are receiving either a BD-R or a pressed disc from Amazon. I'm not sure I've ever encountered this particular situation before, but the one I received from Amazon was in fact a pressed disc.

But I'm a Cheerleader Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately Lionsgate has chosen not to afford the audio side of things the same care that seems to have been lavished on the video, as this disc offers only a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track. That's perhaps especially unfortunate since the underscore and copious source cues are often so energetic. Within a lossy context, everything sounds fine, with dialogue rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

But I'm a Cheerleader Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Jamie Babbit, Costume Designer Alix Friedberg, and Production Designer Rachel Kamerman


• But I'm a Cheerleader Class Reunion (HD; 20:47) is a fantastically enjoyable Zoom event moderated by Kate Arthur from Variety and featuring Jamie Babbit, Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey, Cathy Moriarty, Douglas Spain, Joel Michaely, Dante Basco, and Katrina Phillips.


• Making But I'm a Cheerleader . . . in 1999 (HD; 8:17) incorporates archival interviews and behind the scenes footage from an archival featurette sourced from some pretty ragged looking video.


• But I'm a Composer . . . A Chat with Pat Irwin (HD; 5:27) is another Zoom affair, with Jamie Babbit speaking with the film's music man.


• Student Film: Discharge (HD; 2:59) is an early black and white piece by Babbit.

But I'm a Cheerleader Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

But I'm a Cheerleader is one of those films that obviously has its heart in the right place, and which delivers an important enough (if not exactly revelatory) message, but which may be undercut by the choice to offer so many cartoonish characters within a more ostensibly serious conversation (or at least subtext). The film has a riotous production design and some striking cinematography, which are rendered with a good deal of vividness on this Blu-ray. Unfortunately there's only lossy audio, but perhaps some enjoyable supplements will help make this appealing for anyone considering a purchase.