Megan (Lyonne) shows all the classic signs: the tofu, the Melissa Etheridge poster, the Georgia O'Keeffe pillow. Megan's a lesbian, only she doesn't know it yet. After all, she's a good Christian and a cheerleader. Thank goodness her concerned parents (Stole and Cort) ship her off to True Directions, a homosexual rehabilitation facility run by an over-the-top homophobe (Moriarty) and one of her reprogrammed gay men (Charles). Everything here is played for the hyperbolic, and even though the movie is often extremely funny it also suffers from an excess of exaggeration. As the central figures, pouty-lipped Natasha Lyonne (Slums of Beverly Hills) and sullen Clea DuVall (The Faculty) hit the right tones. However, someone should have reeled in Cathy Moriarty's frenzy of uptightness, and a subplot about her buff son Rock (Cibrian) goes nowhere. Despite its bothersome dislocations and excessive camp, But I'm a Cheerleader is fun viewing. It also shines a rare film light on lipstick lesbians who are willing to put their pom-poms where their mouths are, proving that lesbianism and girlie things like cheerleading are not mutually exclusive.
D: Jamie Babbit; with Natasha Lyonne, Clea Duvall, RuPaul Charles, Cathy Moriarty, Bud Cort.
