Stick It

'This sport is a total joke!' fumes the spunky gymnast heroine of Stick It, a sentiment that will be shared by anyone who wastes their hard-earned on this silly teen comedy.

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.

The script fights well against the cliche-ridden plot but this is very average all round.

Bridges, as always, turns in dependable work as the hard-nosed coach Vickerman, but the character comes with a little too much backstory that neither advances the plot nor finds resolution.

A deliriously, defiantly unfocused headrush...

As a shameless medley of Flashdance, Rocky, Busby Berkeley routines and hip-hop videos, Stick It is a glorious, over-the-top girl-power fantasy. It's also a thrilling insider look at the obsessive world of elite gymnastics.

A message of competitive independence permeates debut director Jessica Bendinger's spunky movie about Haley Graham (Missy Peregrym) a headstrong gymnast-disguised-as-rebel who learns to embrace her talents by way of careful coaching from Jeff Bridges.

Like most sports movies, Stick It has a message: Unless they're equipped with loads of sass-back and a pile of band T-shirts that announce their hardcoreness, female gymnasts are really, really stupid.