Review: ‘Fired Up’ for Mindless Entertainment
by Mike Long
I enjoy silly comedies, and Fired Up fills the bill. It’s a standard variation on a plot done a million times before. In this case, two football jocks decide to attend cheerleader camp in order to apply their formidable sexual prowess to the extraordinary female-to-male ratio. The picture is entirely unrealistic in almost every way, from the preternatural romantic confidence of the male leads to the ease with which these two underage youths navigate the adult world.
And I don’t care. It’s goofy fun. The picture features a couple A-listers from the comedy world, John Michael Higgins and Edie McClurg, and anything either of them are in will almost always have something in it worth watching. The interplay between the jocks, Nicholas D’Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen, is better than it has to be (and the outtakes that run next to the credits reveal that a lot of the jokes were improvised). Juliette Goglia as the little sister made this picture when she was about 13 but plays with the timing and poise of someone twice her age.
Sometimes these “minor” comedies are brimming with little pleasures like these, and that’s reason enough to see them. Sometimes, though, they’re not—and still, I’ll go see ‘em. It comes down to figuring out why you go to the movies in the first place. I have an ax to grind on the matter: A lot of people criticize pictures like Fired Up not because they have a problem with the picture per se but because they have a problem with movies as pure and occasionally mindless and even dumb entertainment. I don’t happen to have any problem with any of those things. I think people would be happier if they quit looking for something serious in every piece of entertainment and just allowed themselves to be amused once in a while. Not everything has to be art.
Then again, if people can’t relax enough to settle for simple amusement once in a while, it’s no skin off my back. I’m still gonna have a good time. Their inability to lighten up is, in the end, entirely their problem, and entirely not mine.
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22 Comments
Haven't seen Fired Up, but I agree with your general sentiments. Too many people take art too seriously all the time. Nothing wrong with a little Beer Fest at two in the morning when you're really not in the mood to have any great pearls of wisdom imparted.
Some movies ennoble us, but some of them are just entertaining… and there's nothing wrong with that.
Most people wouldn't want filet mignon with Don Perignon every day. Sometimes, you just want a cheeseburger and a Coke.
I'd take the filet every day.
Thank you so much for this post! Honestly, I was starting to lose enjoyment in this site because it seemed like everyone was taking everything way too seriously. Lots of noses sticking up in the air. You know what? I like fun, too.
So yay for goofiness!
Yes, art doesn't have to be serious all the time, but some people think that means they can get away without really trying to do well. Even if you're doing a goofball comedy, you still need to put forth your best effort to entertain the audience. Perfect example: Caddyshack – goofbal but filled with solid performances. Caddyshack 2: goofball filled with lazy recycled jokes from the first movie and c-list actors.
Was that last line too much? Yeah, I think it was too much.
My friends give me a hard time whenever I go see terrible movies (usually terrible action movies), and I always respond, "If people stop going to see terrible movies, they'll stop making them!" And that would be a shame.
i agree with you Mike. Sad to say, but I actually liked "Howard the Duck"! What can I say? It was mindless illogical fun.
I agree with you Mike. Sad to say, but I actually liked "Howard the Duck"! What can I say? It was mindless illogical fun.
Agree completely.
Howard the Duck can be seen on hulu.com and is being released on DVD (for the first time!) in a couple weeks. I saw a few minutes of it years ago (I'm 26 and this might have been when I was 7 or
but I have a friend who's waiting to come by my place so we can rent it. I have a feeling my reaction is going to be something to the effect of, "Oh my God, what have I done!?!?!" 
I'm not a fan of the movie, to tell the truth, though I didn't hate it. But I think the negative reaction it received is what started Lucas off down his path of evil… seeking revenge on the public that rejected his film…
[...] Encouraging and Inspiring Bible Verses For Daily Living put an intriguing blog post on â [...]
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Well, considering this movie tanked its opening weekend, safe to say audience weren't too "Fired Up" to see it
Ever notice how androgynous-looking these two lead male actors in "Fired Up"? I saw the preview and it screams feminized young men being condescending joke-fodders for the females in the movie. That is pathetic. Not going to watch it anytime in the future but I feel sad for young men being dragged by their girlfriends to see it.
Hollywood churns out yet another androgynist movie.
Sounds like a cute film and I'm all for escape, but I think I'll wait for it on DVD.
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
I have to admit that I love the mindless comedies, myself. Come on, was Porky's not one of the best movies to see as a teen? A little "blue" but good fun.
I finally wasted 82 unretriveable minutes of lifetime watching "A. Pie Band Camp". Is this the same movie reditied?
I really liked Howard the Duck. I will say its extremely strange, but I kinda like that. I just watched the French version of The Visitors, and that was weird (they typical medieval knight time travels to the future, but this version is not Disneyfied like so many of this sub-genre.). And I liked Face-off because at one point in the story, I think 'oh, a bomb', now I know how the rest of the story goes. 5 mins. later, the bomb issue is resolved, and I did not know how the story was going to go.
sry i just know how to write my name in arabic
) i dnot think that i understand .. i hate english itis very difcult . thanks
sry i just know how to write my name in arabic
) my bad english donot help to type here but really thanks.
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