This is one of my favorites. It's the "North Dallas Forty" of gymnastics. The main difference is that after seeing this, I took an interest in gymnastics. No matter how much I enjoyed "North Dallas Forty", I still have no interest football.Is it flawed? Sure. Is it high art? Naaa. But it doesn't have to be perfect to be enjoyable. Its an underdog movie. You watch it to see the struggle of the hero, and even though you know they are going to win, you want to see how they manage to come out on top.It would probably have a higher rating if it weren't for all the movie snobs that prefer to pick a movie to pieces rather than rating it by how well it accomplishes what it set out to do.I think this one does its job and then some.

"Stick It" is a rare example of a film about gymnastics, a sport which the cinema generally tends to ignore. To "stick it" in gymnastics terminology means to execute a landing perfectly, but in the context of the film the expression is often given a cruder colloquial meaning as in "You can stick it up....." That crude colloquialism might give some idea of the general tone of this teen comedy.Haley Graham is a rebellious teenager from a broken home in a small Texas town. (At least, we are told in the script that Haley is a teenager, although Missy Peregrym was actually 24 at the time). After being convicted of hooliganism, she is given a choice by a judge of either going to jail or going to train at an elite gymnastics academy. As Haley is a talented gymnast – indeed, is a former member of the US national team- this latter might not seem such a harsh punishment, but we learn that she quit the sport due to disillusionment with it and would almost consider jail the easier option. To make matters worse she walked out of competition in the middle of the World Championships, costing the American team the gold medal and making herself the most hated woman in gymnastics. I had never heard of Missy Peregrym before seeing this film; indeed, I had not previously heard of any of the actors in it apart from Jeff Bridges who plays Vickerman. Indeed, I understand that this has been Peregrym's only feature film to date, although she has appeared in a number of TV shows. She is, however, one of the main reasons for the success of this film. Her Haley Graham is a great comic character- smart, sassy, witty, no respecter of persons and yet strangely likable. The film was written and directed by Jessica Bendinger, the writer of "Bring It On" which is set in the world of competitive cheerleading. It was not a great success with the critics, the general consensus being that it was not in the same class as "Bring It On". Yet I actually thought that "Stick It" was the better of the two movies. Part of the reason doubtless has something to do with my attitude to the two featured sports; I am a longtime gymnastics fan whereas until I saw "Bring It On" I didn't even realise that there was such a sport as "competitive cheerleading". Another part of the reason, however, is the way in which "Stick It" confounds our expectations. After Haley arrives at the gymnastics academy, her bolshie attitude towards her coach, Burt Vickerman, and her fellow gymnasts, whom she despises as conformists, makes her even more enemies than she has already. At this stage we all know- or think we do- how the film will end. Under the guidance of a tough-but-fair coach Haley will rediscover her love for gymnastics, will undergo a complete change of heart, will be reconciled with her team-mates and her parents and in a wonderful sentimental feelgood ending will be crowned not only Olympic Champion but also Miss Popularity of the gymnastics world. Or something like that. Or nothing like that. Ms Bendinger obviously realised something which some other film-makers fail to realise, namely that modern teenagers do not really care for wonderful sentimental feelgood endings (any more than my generation cared for them when we were teenagers). Although Vickerman persuades Haley, rather against her will, to begin training seriously once again, her motive is not a rediscovered love for the sport but a realisation that winning prize money from competing is her best chance of paying off court-imposed fines for the property damage she has caused. She qualifies for the National Championships, but her rebellious spirit is still very much alive and she uses the event to organise a protest against over-rigid, subjective and biased judging- one of the many reasons she abandoned the sport in the first place. As she says "It doesn't matter how well you do. It's how well you follow their rules"- a sentiment which will win the approval of many young people. To satirise gymnastics on the grounds that its judging system is simultaneously both excessively rigid and excessively subjective is a bit unfair; the reason that the Code of Points has to be so strict is that if it were not the sport would be even more open to subjective and biased judging than it is. The ending is also a bit unrealistic; I doubt if in reality Haley would have found many of her fellow-gymnasts ready to join her in her protest. (They have sacrificed too much to throw it all away for the sake of a gesture). Those who did participate in such a protest would doubtless be banned from the sport for life, not rewarded with offers of university athletic scholarships. Yet satirical comedies like this one have a licence to disregard the laws of probability in a way that more serious dramas do not. Exaggeration for comic effect is often the best way of making a point, even if it goes beyond the bounds of the strictly plausible. It is not, I suspect, a film which will have been welcomed by the American gymnastics authorities, even though some of their members, notably Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Mohini Bhardwaj, appear in cameo roles. It takes a markedly irreverent view of the sport, holding some of its less attractive aspects- pushy parents, a high injury rate, overbearing coaches, inconsistent judging- up to critical scrutiny. It always does so, however, through the use of wit and humour rather than through preaching or moralising. The music on the soundtrack was not really to my taste, but overall this is a very amusing look at the world of sport with a great performance at its centre. 7/10

It was a good movie. how the girl over came her fear and her shame when she absconded from her last heats lead her team to disqualify.In life things do not come easy and we need to work hard for it.However i was not too impressed by the end as it did not show a classic winning end . however showed how the judges judged the event and how the participates or athletes went against it.It was a bad end according to me after such a good start . So i don't know how it all went it that way to end it so bad . Looked like the writer wanted to pass on a message and used a wrong start.So in case you plan to see this movie ... go ahead as starts takes all the credit of the movie doing well.you might like the message passed however not everyone sees that . It reminded me of my college days. We too had lot of fun . And ya remembered the prom.

I think this movie is nothing but amazing!! Everyone i know that has seen this movie loves it and i really want them to make another one more than anything!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!! Anyone who doesn't like this movie just doesn't understand the hard work of gymnastics. I have recommended this movie to many friend and its a favorite. It is much like the TV show Make it or Break it, which is also gymnastics. This movie however is better because it doesn't have all that extra unwanted drama that repeats itself and gets annoying. I really hope the writers think about making a new one before the actors get to old because this movie also show girls that if you want something, to go and get it, even if you have to "eat mat". :)