Midnight Movie Cheerleader Robbery Goes for Broke

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age. 

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing. 

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Cheerleaders Gone… Bank Robbing?

The year 2000 was the New Hollywood of cheerleaders in film. After years of movies in which teen girls with pom poms were reduced to one-note bitches and bimbos, Y2K saw the easy-to-stereotype athletes receive a sudden rush of cinematic respect with Peyton Reed’s instant classic “Bring It On.”

Starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union, the story of a rivalry between two cheer squads combined an authentic love for the (extremely grueling) work of cheer captains with fun flirty comedy and a surprisingly intelligent depiction of cultural appropriation. It was a box office hit, positively reviewed, and inspired many a copycat — most of which didn’t hold a candle to the original classic in quality.

Just five months after Dunst cartwheeled into the public’s heart, a vastly different but still wildly memorable cheerleader story released to little fanfare. Shoved out into theater in January 2001 by New Line Cinema, “Sugar & Spice” and its slightly cynical, weirder take on high school life could be mistaken for a parody of Reed’s film if you squint; Marley Shelton’s naive blonde captain Diane certainly bears a physical resemblance to Dunst’s Torrance. However, the films were produced concurrently. In 2018, Union revealed she auditioned for “Sugar & Spice,” and thought of “Bring It On” as a “consolation prize” for not booking director Francine McDougall’s crime comedy.

Things panned out differently when the movies actually came out. While “Bring It On” made $90 million worldwide and spawned several direct-to-DVD sequels and a future Broadway musical, “Sugar & Spice” managed $16.9 million, surpassing its $11 million budget but not by all that much. Nobody had much faith in the final product. It wasn’t screened for critics prior to release, and screenwriter Lona Williams (who you should recognize as the writer behind another Dunst classic, “Drop Dead Gorgeous”) had her name removed from the credits, with the script instead going credited to the pseudonym “Mandy Nelson.”

As a result, “Sugar & Spice” is almost entirely forgotten in the modern day. That’s a shame because it’s very much a film that deserves some of the cult love that other mean, weird, dark teen films like “Heathers,” “Jawbreaker,” or “Election” still receive. It might seem dumb from a distance, but lurking underneath the film’s plastic exterior is a funny, saucy movie with smart satirical observations about consumerism and the expectations we still have of cheerleaders.

The absurd premise of “Sugar & Spice” feels like a boardroom pitch asking executives to imagine “The Usual Suspects” as a teen comedy, but it’s loosely inspired by a real event. In 1999, four teenage students at Kingwood High School in Houston, Texas were arrested for robbing four grocery stores and a bakery. Williams’ original version of the film was intended to hew closer to the original case, and was considerably darker and more gruesome — the original title was “Sugar & Spice & Semi-automatics.” The Columbine High School shooting and the subsequent national concern over depictions of teen violence resulted in enough meddling with the script that Williams later said the experience soured her on Hollywood as a whole.

Some of that retooling is obvious in the final cut of the movie, which has a slightly scattershot, sometimes thin screenplay and a close-to-even ratio between jokes that land and jokes that whiff badly. Still, Williams’ brilliance — which made the pageant-world satire of “Drop Dead Gorgeous” iconic to a generation of film nerds — pokes out enough to make it worth a watch.

Whereas the real girls from the Kingwood robberies reportedly spent their money on piercings and recreational drugs, the A-team cheer squad that dons Betty Doll masks to stick up a supermarket in “Sugar & Spice” have a far more pressing need for funds. As recounted in droll, sardonic voice-over by envious B-teamer Lisa (Marla Sokoloff, who serves the Keyser Soze narration role with verve and bitchiness), their leader — the sweet, slightly dim Diane — was kicked out of her home by her parents after getting pregnant. Moving into a busted apartment with her equally airheaded boyfriend-turned-husband Jack (a perfectly cast James Marsden), the strain of carrying twins causes her to invoke her bone-deep sisterhood with her BFFs…bad girl Kanas (Mena Suvari), Jesus freak Hannah (Rachel Blanchard), nerdy Lucy (Sara Marsh), and Conan O’Brien superfan Cleo (Melissa George)…and convince them to put down their pom-poms and start carrying guns, so they can get the money she needs for a better life.

Watching cheerleaders attempt a hard pivot into violent crime is the type of premise a “Saturday Night Live” sketch would come up with — and drag into the ground for five minutes. But while the heist gives “Sugar & Spice” its basic momentum, the movie shines most in the little details, from its perfect depiction of shallow small-town boredom to the kooky but genuine friendship that bonds the girls together. The tweaked title feels apt for the story: it’s a movie with a bit of sourness, a bit of sweetness, and a whole lot of fun. —WC

The Aftermath: Queer-Coded Camp Has Never Made Straight Men Look So Good

Somewhere between “Enchanted,” “27 Dresses,” and the Netflix TV show “Dead to Me,” James Marsden became my No. 1 seed for American Cinema’s Hottest Man. Winsome and intoxicating, even through those crystal-clear blue eyes, the hunky actor has spent the last two decades as a bonafide Hollywood Chris in everything but name. He can play dashing, daring, dumb, and even dick-ish when the scene requires it — but never did I think Marsden would outshine a gang of gonzo cheerleaders in a queer-coded crime caper like “Sugar & Spice.” 

Williams’ script is not especially kind to the gays, tossing around homophobic slurs with reckless abandon and using the very possibility of same-sex attraction as a repeated punchline. The politics of “Bring It On” have certainly aged better, but the circular re-embrace of problematic content by gay and lesbian audiences is a welcome silver-lining of the midnight movie space. “Sugar & Spice” is a bisexual Rorschach test if there ever was one. It’s a spirited exploration of anti-capitalist sentiment that flirts with the idea of hot women rubbing their (metaphoric) megaphones together, while simultaneously making room for straight good guys to be, well, straight and good. 

Like a lunch lady in Lincoln High auditorium’s fourth row, I yelped when Jack Barlett arrived onscreen. The late twenty-something Marsden is stupidly attractive here — but it’s everything that comes after the actor’s perfect first appearance that makes his dim-witted Homecoming King one of the greats. As loyal as he is lovable, Jack shares the same steadfast commitment to Diane that keeps her peppy criminal contingent together through what could indeed be called “the best bank robbery ever.” Even when Jack is slowing down grocery shopping with his cereal selection — or pulling some adorably ill-considered “‘Gift of the Magi’ shit” for a wedding ring with no stone — Mr. Cheer Captain loves his girl, unplanned pregnancies and all. 

Audible “awwww”s betrayed my affection for Marsden’s character throughout my “Sugar & Spice” viewing. Whether learning the Lamaze method at the video store or tracing Diane’s belly on the wall of their shitty apartment, Jack can’t help being a wife guy. Watching someone as stunning and craft as Sokoloff’s Lisa circle closer and closer, you’d expect the football stud to reverse course and pull some unfaithful crap like Dean from “Gilmore Girls.” Instead, he never fails Diane. You almost wish the girls would rope Jack into their heist, although his love for his future wife and twins could get in the way of their plans — and, with limited funding, fake bellies don’t grow on trees.

There are more “Sugar & Spice” men worth shouting out; chief among them, Fern’s dad Hank (W. Earl Brown). It takes a special kind of underground arms-dealer to give up more than a grand so his daughter can snag a spot on the cheer squad. Even handing our anti-heroines some seriously shoddy weapons, you get the impression the black-market vendor had the Bettys’ backs from start to end. That cockroach van didn’t gas up itself (although, I doubt Jack would ever put his kids on the road without working brakes).

From “Point Break” to “Reservoir Dogs,” the surprising pop culture references of “Sugar & Spice” are some of the most delightful I’ve encountered. But Conan O’Brien as the object of Cleo’s stalker-ish affection had me especially tickled — if only because this is the second time I’ve witnessed that particular joke play out onscreen. Seriously, Variety, get the hottest girl in “Mullholand Drive” opposite Emma Stone’s character from “Crazy Stupid Love” in an Actors on Actors; they’d have a lot to talk about. 

“Bring It On” may be an all-around better movie and, as a matter of queer cult classics, I’d still recommend “But I’m a Cheerleader” way before “Sugar & Spice.” (In the epilogue, what are we supposed to feel when we find out the male cheerleader isn’t gay? Joy? Relief? Either way, yikes.) Still, this forgotten treasure trove of edgy one-liners (“Can someone dust my ass for prints?”) is nothing if not a premium slice of cinema’s twisted understanding of the American Dream. No tea, no shade, but move over Tim Walz; Senator Jack Bartlett is my pick for VP. —AF

Those brave enough to join in on the fun can rent or buy “Sugar & Spice” on Amazon Prime Video. IndieWire After Dark publishes midnight movie recommendations at 11:59 p.m. ET every Friday. Read more of our deranged suggestions…