For What It's Worth - Stick To Your Guns

Advantages: Snappy pacing and nicely shot action.
Disadvantages: Cliches aplenty and total predictability.

...-dancing rears its ugly head. And obviously there is a scene where the gymnasts break out of their routine and go and do something fun, which, in this case involves doing gymnastics in prom dresses around a shopping mall. But although the story and relationships may be by-the-numbers, it is carried by the swift pacing and snappy dialogue. Haley is the sort of stroppy teenager with an answer for everything and she spends much of her time insulting her coach or bitchy team-mate Joanna. And Joanna's speech is peppered with constant word misuse, like telling her coach to "remember the penile code". The other thing that makes the film slightly different to others is the use of fantasy, where the gymnasts imagine the judges trying to do what they do or trying to take the podium from them. But you get the impression Bendinger could have used a stronger... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Moving powerful story, very well performed
Disadvantages: Inaccuracies

.... Conclusion It is certainly worth watching at least once and you may well find that you want to see it again. This film is not about entertainment and must be taken seriously, but if you care to do that, I strongly recommend it. Rather than just saying this is a very inaccurate portrayal of what really happened to the star, I'd say this is a picture of what someone imagined it would be like to be a star living under the shadow of domestic abuse, based on the story of Ike and Tina Turner. By this definition, the film really is unmissable, but perhaps I just like it too much to stick to the other definition! If you are or have been in a violent relationship, or suffered bullying of some other kind, it is likely you'll find this more upsetting, but nevertheless I think there is a lot to benefit from this film and I therefore recommend it... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Lots of gym!
Disadvantages: Not a lot of (believable) story

...~~ Nasty Gym Sticks ~~ If you're a gymnastics buff, you're probably well aware of the other gym films out there. There's Perfect Body (which only ever made it onto Region 1 DVD) and the everso similar Little Girls In Pretty Boxes (which languishes on Channel 5 / the Hallmark Channel and never got its deserved DVD release). There's a dubious one called American Anthem from the mid 1980s that was out on VHS. If you're willing to expand the gym theme to tumbling and dancing, there's also Sugar and Spice, and the 4 Bring It Ons (the latest was released on Boxing Day 2007), but these are cheerleading themed rather than "proper" gym. For a sport with such a huge fan base you'd think there would be a market for more gym films, especially of the Mary Kate and Ashley style straight-to-DVD variety, but that's all there is really that I (and... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful