This Week in Movies: Feb. 20 2009

By Derek Hardman Feb 19th, 2009

Let’s face it, not every weekend has the cinematic prospects of, say, Memorial Day weekend. Some weeks you just have to accept that the point-spread between entertainment and righteous indignation is leaning heavily towards righteous indignation. Nevertheless, even movies with improbable odds stacked against them pay off every once in a while, like that horse Seabiscuit. You know, the one that inspired the film Seabiscuit by defying improbable odds to win the Kentucky Derby? Yeah, that one. Well, even if Fired Up, Madea Goes to Jail and Eleven Minutes do have the odds of solid, worth-the-money-you-spent entertainment stacked against them, you never know, they could be the next Seabiscuit. The horse, not the film. The film made truckloads of cash and won the hearts and minds of a nation. These films on the other hand...

Fired Up

In the wake of Bring it On and every other cheerleader-themed film to tap into the zeitgeist of, well, cheerleaders and the high school culture they, well, cheerlead, comes yet another film to do more or less the same. This time, however, there’s a twist. Enter Shawn (Nicholas D’Agnosto) and Nick (Eric Christian Olsen), stars of the Gerald R. Ford High School football team who, in dreading their looming training camp (they call it “Hell Week” in many parts of the land), decide to join the cheerleader squad instead. And guess what, it’s a total score, ‘cause homeboys are surrounded by a bunch of babes, even if it means becoming the laughingstock of their gridiron peers. And wouldn’t you know it, homeboy Shawn even begins falling for cheerleader-leader Carly (Sarah Roemer). Only problem is, Shawn has to prove his intentions by, like, “being genuine” and “taking things seriously” or whatever it is guys have to do to get girls to “believe” them. Typical. Oh, and for added measure, Shawn’s has to do this before the obligatory cheerleading competition final. Gulp.

Madea Goes to Jail

How Tyler Perry has managed to make not one but several film sequels to his sassy, cantankerous, pistol-packing grandmotherly Madea, who began life as a character in a successful play, is no longer open for discussion or debate. She is here to stay. Forever. And Madea Goes to Jail is proof of that. Now in its umpteenth sequel, we find Madea, you guessed it, in jail for a high-speed freeway chase because of her sassiness, cantankerousness and, more likely, her pistol-packing-ness. Joe couldn’t be happier with where she is, a sentiment that many in attendance will likely empathize with. The family and family friends, the Browns, rally behind her and try to bring her case to up-and-coming Assistant DA Derek Luke (yes, Derek Luke of Antwone Fisher is in this) who is involved in a highly personal case involving a young drug-addled prostitute (Keisha Knight Pulliam). Madea, who underneath it all really “means well,” or something, takes her under her wing and, I suppose, makes her case, too. Her case, of course, is: road-ragists are people, too; good people who can tough-lovingly rehabilitate even the most hopeless of cases.

Eleven Minutes

Remember Spring Break: The Real Cancun the movie? No? Well, there’s a good reason for that and, incidentally, still hope left for humanity. Nevertheless, another Reality TV show (read: Project Runway) is making its way onto the big screen with 2006’s winner Jay McCarroll. Now, those who live in the markets the film is screening in and, like, actually care to see it, can watch a year in the life of the man once referred to as “the next great American designer.” Who was the last “great American designer,” you might be asking? Good question. But the vague future-perfect honor was likely passed on to Season 2's winner Chloe Dao, before moving on to Season 3's winner, Jeffrey Sebelia, and so on.