Sugar & Spice
| Sugar & Spice | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster |
|
| Directed by | Francine McDougall |
| Produced by | Wendy Finerman |
| Written by | Mandy Nelson |
| Narrated by | Marla Sokoloff |
| Starring | Marla Sokoloff Marley Shelton Mena Suvari Melissa George Rachel Blanchard Alexandra Holden Sara Marsh James Marsden |
| Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh |
| Cinematography | Robert Brinkmann |
| Editing by | Sloane Klevin |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | January 26, 2001 |
| Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $27 million[1] |
| Box office | $16,908,947[1] |
Sugar & Spice is a 2001 American teen crime comedy film directed by Francine McDougall. It was filmed entirely in the state of Minnesota.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story is narrated by Lisa Janusch (Marla Sokoloff), the bitter and jealous head cheerleader of Lincoln High School's B-squad.
Diane Weston (Marley Shelton), the popular head cheerleader of Lincoln High School's A-squad, becomes pregnant by the star football quarterback Jack Bartlett (James Marsden). The two move out of their parents' homes to find an apartment of their own. Jack initially has problems staying in a job, due to his tactless personality, but finally gets hired at a video rental store. In spite of their problems coming up with the rent money, Jack and Diane try as hard as they can to survive while going to school at the same time. Lisa, Diane's bitter rival, occasionally runs into Jack at the rental store. She is interested in winning Jack's heart, but fails to get his attention. After struggling with the rent and antcipating the financial hardship of supporting a family, Diane and her four cheerleader squadmates, Kansas (Mena Suvari), Cleo (Melissa George), Lucy (Sara Marsh), and Hannah (Rachel Blanchard), plan the perfect bank robbery. They promise each other not to tell Jack about their plan, because of his inability to lie to others.
The squad watches heist films to learn how to rob banks, and Kansas visits her mother at the women's penitentiary, for tips on where to find weaponry. Following the women's advice, Diane and her friends visit a bug exterminator, "The Terminator" (W. Earl Brown), who sells illegal arms and ammo. He refuses to sell them the guns unless they accept his daughter, Fern (Alexandra Holden), on the squad. The squad agrees to do so and they begin rehearsing the robbery, as well as their choreography for the winter ball.
During winter break, they order masks to hide their identities. Lucy backs out of the heist because she receives a scholarship to Harvard. At Christmas, Diane receives an engagement ring from Jack. She then finds out he sold his GTO in order to buy her the ring. The squad is forced to buy a new get-away vehicle, which turns out to be an old van with bad brakes.
At their first robbery at a supermarket, Lucy returns to the group having decided to help them after all. Lisa happens to be in the store at the time of the robbery, and notices that they perform cheerleader stunts in order to cover up the security cameras. The squad robs the bank and come close to shooting a customer after one of the guns discharges. They make off with armloads of cash and celebrate their success after burning their Betty costumes. The robbery is reported on TV Neither Diane nor her friends expect Lisa to suspect them until they are confronted by her and the B-squad in the high school cafeteria, followed by the FBI.
Diane and her friends are jailed and need an alibi, so Diane promises to promote Lisa to captain of the A-squad in order to keep Lisa silent, since she is approaching her third trimester and can't do rigorous activity. The group is outraged, but come to appreciate this decision.
In order to cover up her actions, Diane tells Jack she won the lottery and after they have their children, Jack wins his senatorial campaign, and Diane's squad lead successful lives after high school.
[edit] Cast
- Marla Sokoloff as Lisa "The Informer" Janusch; her surname is taken from Janus: a two-faced god from Roman mythology. She'll do anything to overthrow Diane Weston as Captain of Lincoln High's "A" Squad...as long as it does not deviate from the NCAA Rulebook. Ultimately, she produces an alibi which gets the Betty Gang off scot-free, in exchange for Diane's resignation from the squad. Following her high school graduation, Lisa marries Bruce (David Belenky), the biggest geek in her class, whom she originally thought was gay.
- Marley Shelton as Diane "The Mastermind" Weston; with her lensflare smile, this all-American blonde leads the Betty Gang to successful heists, and the Lincoln High "A" Squad to victory at local games. She's expecting twins with the quarterback / muscle car-buff / future Senator Jack Bartlett. Diane tells him she just won the lottery after the robbery. After Jack marries her and they ride off (in his GTO) to Capitol Hill, Diane's parents start a scholarship fund in her name for pregnant cheerleaders. She is the film's protagonist.
- Rachel Blanchard as Hannah "The Virgin" Wald; as the only member of the Betty Gang who enjoys church camp, this "A" Squad cheerleader from Lincoln High believes that only the Devil can turn you against your sisters. She irrationally desires to have her own horse, but ultimately throws herself one better: following Hannah's high-school graduation, she uses her cut of the gang's booty to start a successful riding school.
- Melissa George as Cleo "The Stalker" Miller; this "A" Squad cheerleader from Lincoln High has more curves than the Indianapolis Speedway. She makes no secret of her desire to one day sleep with talk show host Conan O'Brien; in fact, she's got a picture of him monogrammed onto the seat of her underpants. Following Cleo's high-school graduation, she becomes a horror movie-actress and leather furniture-collector...with two fine homes, one in Hollywood and the other in New York City.
- Mena Suvari as Kansas "The Rebel" Hill; this cheerleader for the Lincoln High Emancipators (AKA the Fighting E's) has been raised by her grandparents since birth, due to Kansas's mother serving two life sentences in prison without eligibility for parole. When her mother was in labor with Kansas, she overheard Kansas's father making love with a nurse in the next room; Kansas's mom produced a shotgun, blowing away the nurse along with Kansas's dad. Now Kansas aspires to obtain a full legal pardon for her mom; she even barters tobacco to her mother's cell-mates in return for heist tips.
- Alexandra Holden as Fern "The Terminator" Rogers; she loves skim milk and hates bugs. She helps her dad run his black-market small arms dealership. Fern ultimately grows into her looks, using her share of the gang's loot to travel the world as a magazine model.
- Sara Marsh as Lucy "The Brain" Whitman; This "A" Squad cheerleader from Lincoln High is a top candidate for "Most Beautiful Nerd" or "Nerdiest Beauty," depending on one's preference. A stickler for planning and preparation, she uses liquid paper to de-smudge her sneakers. After Lucy graduates high school, she revolutionizes the art of pizza-boxing and becomes governess of her own island in the West Indies.
- James Marsden as Jack Bartlett; the most popular guy at Lincoln High, quarterback, muscle car fanatic, future Senator, and Diane's future husband
- W. Earl Brown as Hank Rogers/"The Terminator"; Fern's father who runs a black-market small arms dealership; the only condition of the girls getting weaponry from him is that Fern be a member of the squad.
- Sean Young as Mrs. Hill; Kansas' mother
- Conan O'Brien as Himself
- Kurt Loder as Himself
- Jerry Springer as Himself
[edit] Release
[edit] Critical reception
Sugar & Spice received generally negative reviews; it currently holds a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Though this cheerleader comedy has an intriguing premise, it's too empty-headed and saddled with too many lame jokes to live up to it. Also, some critics say the movie is irresponsible in its depiction of teens and guns."[2]
[edit] Box office
The film opened at #5 at the North American Box office making $5,891,176 USD in its opening weekend. By the end of its run, it had grossed $13,305,101 in the domestic box office and $16,908,947 worldwide; based on a $27 million budget, it was a box office bomb.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Sugar & Spice at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Sugar & Spice at Rotten Tomatoes
