Gimme an 'F' (1984)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Straight-laced Young Miss into gymnastics may have to sex-up her act in order to compete with the jiggly cheerleaders at Camp Beaver View, a summer spot for hormone-crazed kids which comes complete with a 'Beaverteria'. John Karlen shamefacedly heads up an awkward cast of teenage no-names in this "Porky's"/"Flashdance"/"Footloose" hybrid (one with an overlay of summer camp pranks which go back years, if not decades). Our heroine gets klutzy around cute guys, signaling to us that she's a virgin, while down at the local sleaze-spot two skinny boys dance with a trampy chick on-stage in a pantomime of ménage à trois (which is curiously accepted quite readily by the yuppie-looking youths in the audience). Not very imaginative, and not the least bit amusing, this must have been an embarrassment for 20th Century-Fox--not to mention the bare-breasted girls on-screen whose bodies are relentlessly exploited for the sake of sniggering juveniles and underage girl-peepers. * from ****

"Flashdance" meets "Meatballs III" or maybe it should just be called "Meatballs IV". This is my friend Wesley's all-time favorite movie, largely because he still has a thing about J.V. cheerleaders. As someone once said: "This is fine-more than fine-but as you get older you need to branch out. Whether you want to or not, society demands it"."Gimme An F" has cinema's greatest J.V. cheerleader Mary Ann (played by Beth Miller), who looks like a sweet-faced Alicia Silverstone from before her "Clueless" days. Wesley hates Miller's other film, the horrific "Teen Wolf Too" made three years later, where she plays a fickle southern belle much like Martha Smith's character in "Animal House". Personally I admire Miller's range as the two characters could not be more different and she is convincing as both.Anyway, Mary Ann is a naïve novice cheerleader from Moline (a member of "The Lucky Ducks" squad) who comes to Camp Beaverview for cheerleading instruction. She's befriended by Jenna (Karen Lee Kelly), the leader of the tough girl squad-appropriately named "The Demons". Jenna becomes protective of Mary Ann after her main rival takes an instant dislike to Mary Ann.Later Mary Ann gets a crush on Tommy Hamilton, the head instructor. Tommy is spending his summer wrestling with the dilemma of having to grow up and move on, which is a problem as his only skills are teaching cheerleading and performing elaborate dance routines in the shower, for the enjoyment of viewers who get off on that sort of thing. Phoebe (Daphne Ashbrook) is Tommy's long-suffering girlfriend, she has a well-adjusted attitude and an experienced perspective. She even tolerates Tommy's flirtation with Mary Ann-trusting that Tommy will not actually take advantage of young Mary Ann.While these four characters are solid and their relationships have a nice charm, the supporting cast is almost as weak as the material they have to work with. Which is a shame because had they brought some actual comic relief to the production it would have been a decent film. Jennifer Cooke plays Pam, a social climbing and terminally peppy instructor who is carrying on with camp's money-hungry owner Bucky. And there is another couple with a thing for the characters from "Mad Max". Since nothing is very funny you are left with only a cute semi-romance and some great dance routines.An attempt is made to create some suspense by slowly leading up a final competition but unless this is your first movie experience the outcome is never in doubt. And there is a back-story about some Japanese businessmen Bucky wants to get money from, but it goes nowhere dramatically or comically.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Although this movie is like 18 years old, I just saw it for the first time. Honestly, I didn't think it was all that bad. I mean, sure, some of the acting was the pits, but what can we expect from a low budget 80's flick? This was just another one of those teen movies that mainly focused on sex and having fun. This movie isn't for everyone. Only those who appreciate a cheesy low budget movie need watch it. I give this movie a 7 out of 10 because really, it wasn't all that terrible!

A super cool movie about what it takes to be a cheerleader,amongst the bitchiness of the buisness,a total starless cast that pulls of my favourite movie of all time,shame the film was deleated 5 years ago,if you get a copy hang on to it,its a genuinine laugh a minute..