1.First, and most importantly, this 2006 movie stars a pre-Twilight Kellan Lutz, which already puts it leagues ahead of other teen movies:
2.And he's HILARIOUS!
3.But in actuality, I love how this movie isn't your ~typical teen movie~ with romance and prom-related angst. Like, a disgraced Olympian who's shoved back into the world of gymnastics even though the whole nation hates her? Talk about originality!
4.Plus, a post–The Big Lebowski and pre–True Grit Jeff Bridges adds to the magic of this film:
5.It's not just Kellan! The humor is spread far and wide in this movie, making all 103 minutes of Stick It fuckin' golden:
6.Already, this movie is pointing out EVERYthing wrong with gymnastics as an institution:
7.It also doesn't sugarcoat how hard gymnastics is. I know it LOOKS pretty, but these women are stone-cold athletes:
8.Don't get my wrong, it's a teen movie from the early aughts, so there's some cattiness earlier in the film — "What's with all the closed captioning?" — but the theme of this movie is women supporting women:
9.This movie also has heart! When we found out that Haley "choked" at Worlds because she discovered her mother's affair with her coach right before her final event, I felt that:
10.It's also about men supporting women! When Haley has her breakdown after the IG Classic, it's Frank and Poot who pick her back up:
11.But back to the antagonists — first was Joanne. Don't get me wrong, I understood why she was upset with Haley in the beginning, but when she stands up to her mom (the REAL antagonist), that's what I call ~growth~. Also, she's funny as heck:
12.And then there's Tricia. Again, I understand why she's upset, but when she sees the light and scratches so that Haley, her former enemy, can win floor, THAT was a true sign of growth:
13.BUT THE MOST GROWTH comes from Haley. The fact that she's willing to compete even though the judges are gonna score her based on "who she was and not who she is" is mighty big of her. And she apologized to Tricia. AND she didn't run away when things got tough. We truly, truly love to see it:
14.My favorite part of the film — and the number one reason Stick It is ace content — is the scene where all the female gymnasts come together to support Mina after her bullshit score that inspired Scratchgate, as well as to choose the winners for once:
15.I also can't imagine you needing more reasons to watch this movie, but if you DO, the music is out of this world:
16.And last but not least, Wei Wei's beam routine quite literally ~sticks this movie~ at the top of the list:
