D.E.B.S. (2004 film)

D.E.B.S.
D.E.B.S.
	D.E.B.S. Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Angela Robinson
Written by	Angela Robinson
Produced by	Jasmine Kosovic; Andrea Sperling
Starring	Megan Good; Jill Ritchie; Jordana Brewster; Sara Foster; Devon Aoki
Cinematography	M. David Mullen
Edited by	Angela Robinson
Music by	Messy; Steven M. Stern
Distributed by	Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release dates	2004 (film festivals); March 25, 2005
Running time	91 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.5 million USD

This article is about the feature length film. For the short film, see D.E.B.S. (2003 film).

D.E.B.S. is a 2004 action/comedy film written and directed by Angela Robinson. It is an expansion of a short film of the same name that made the festival circuit (including the Sundance Film Festival). The film is both a parody and an emulation of the Charlie's Angels format. It features a lesbian love story between one of the heroes and the villain.

Plot

Four coeds are about to graduate from a secret academy, where they have been trained to become spies in the paramilitary group D.E.B.S. (Discipline, Energy, Beauty, and Strength). Candidates are selected through a test hidden in the SATs that measures an applicant's ability to fight, cheat, lie, and kill. The team is headed by the somewhat obsessive Max (Meagan Good), who tends to draw her gun at the slightest provocation. The other team members are the somewhat naive Janet (Jill Ritchie), the chain-smoking and promiscuous Dominique (Devon Aoki), and Amy (Sara Foster), who is doubtful about being a spy, despite the fact that she earned a perfect score on her D.E.B.S. test and is now an honor student at the academy. Amy is considering going to art school in Barcelona after graduation, but Max, who has been her best friend since freshman year, tries to convince her that espionage is more important.

As the film opens, Amy has broken up with her boyfriend Bobby, a Homeland Security agent. Her personal life takes a back seat to the re-emergence of Lucy Diamond, a criminal mastermind who, by coincidence, is the subject of Amy's thesis. The D.E.B.S. are sent by the head of D.E.B.S., Miss Petrie (Holland Taylor), to surveil Diamond (Jordana Brewster). They arrive at the restaurant Les Deux Amours expecting to witness criminal dealings. Little do they know that Diamond has simply been set up on a blind date by her chief henchman and best friend, Scud (Jimmi Simpson). She is there to meet an ex-KGB assassin named Ninotchka Kaprova. The date is a disaster. Bobby shows up to confront Amy about their breakup, but accidentally alerts Diamond to the spies overhead. A shootout erupts, and Diamond escapes in the chaos. The D.E.B.S. follow her, splitting up into two groups with Max and Dominique going one way, and Amy and Janet going the other. Amy and Janet get separated and Amy literally runs into Lucy in a large storage room. They quickly end up in a standoff, with Amy trying to convince Lucy to come quietly. Lucy instead charms Amy (who is surprised to learn Lucy is gay, since none of the material she studied for her thesis reveals this) into lowering her guard and disappears the moment Amy's attention wavers. When the other D.E.B.S. arrive, they praise Amy for being the only federal agent who has ever encountered Lucy and lived to tell about it.

Despite Scud's protests ("Not only is she a D.E.B., She's the D.E.B.! She's the perfect score!"), Lucy returns to the squad's residence that night to talk to Amy, with whom she is quite taken. They fight, until Lucy gains the upper hand and forces Amy to go out with her for a night of fun. However, they encounter Janet outside the house. Lucy has no choice but to bring Janet along or risk discovery. They drive to an underground club called The Junk Pit, which is reached by driving through holographic barriers disguising it from casual observation. Amy has every intention of sulking in the car, but Janet goes inside to use the bathroom and Amy accompanies her.

Inside the club, Lucy notices Amy and convinces her to have a drink. Janet ends up bonding with Scud while Lucy further charms Amy. Lucy is intrigued by Amy's intellect, her breakup with Bobby, and her obvious doubts about being a spy. Amy is fascinated to discover that much of Lucy's deadly reputation has been carefully manufactured and that many if not all of the agents who supposedly died while confronting her actually died from environmental factors like frostbite and Ebola. Lucy senses Amy's attraction and leans in to kiss her — only to be interrupted by a shocked Janet.

Lucy takes the two D.E.B.S. home. Janet is indignant, claiming that Amy is violating protocol, and is further troubled at learning Amy might be Lesbian. Amy blackmails her into silence by reminding her of an incident where Janet "got drunk and nearly got the chancellor of Bulgaria killed" and Amy covered for her. The next day, Miss Petrie meets with Amy and promotes her to squad leader, effectively replacing Max. Max is furious, but must follow Amy as they respond to a bank heist orchestrated by Lucy.

At the bank, Amy and Max bicker over the best approach to rescuing the hostages and capturing Lucy Diamond, who, despite Scud's disapproval, has committed the crime solely for an opportunity to see Amy again. Amy rushes blindly forward and the squad gets trapped inside a vault. A chute opens under Amy's feet; she falls out of the vault, leaving the other three behind. Amy arrives in the bank's basement, where Lucy is waiting for her. Meanwhile, the vault has turned into a death trap as the ceiling sprouts large spikes and begins to descend. In the basement, Amy tells Lucy that they cannot be together and gets her to release her squadmates, although, spiked ceiling notwithstanding, Lucy claims her squadmates were never in danger of death. Lucy attempts to cover her interest in order to salvage her pride and turns to leave, but is pulled back by Amy, who can no longer resist her attraction to Lucy. They kiss, and Lucy asks Amy to come with her. The D.E.B.S. arrive in the basement to find Lucy's callsign, diamonds, Amy's tie, and a note spraypainted on the wall reading "I HAVE THE GIRL." They assume Amy has been kidnapped, though Janet seems to know exactly what has happened.

Miss Petrie organizes a nationwide manhunt to find Amy while she spends some quality time with Lucy; Janet desperately tried to keep Amy apprised of the situation, but Amy never hears any of Janet's phone messages. Amy shares her art school dream with Lucy, who suggests running off to Barcelona together, where Amy can attend art school and Lucy will rent sailboats to tourists. Lucy and Amy are seen by a jealous Ninotchka, who anonymously tips Max to their location.

Lucy and Amy are arguing about their respective professions while the D.E.B.S. and Bobby close in on Lucy's lair. They catch the two women in a moment of passion. Mortified, Amy returns to the D.E.B.S and attempts to explain herself. Miss Petrie is ready to exile her, but Max steps in with an alternative to save Amy's reputation and thus prevent the D.E.B.S from looking foolish for having held her in such high academic esteem. Amy will tell everyone that she was brainwashed by Lucy, but that the D.E.B.S. rescued her in the nick of time. Tearfully, Amy agrees to comply. Max is still disgusted with Amy, and Amy finds herself being shunned by her friends for her deception. When the academy headmaster, Mr. Phipps, tries to encourage her on her upcoming graduation, she is further distressed to learn her perfect D.E.B.S. test score meant that she was "a perfect liar."

Meanwhile, Lucy does everything she can to win Amy back, returning all the money she has ever stolen and projecting a valentine message into the sky like a Bat-Signal. Finally, she and Scud plan to crash the D.E.B.S. year-end dance, Endgame, where Amy is to be made D.E.B. of the year. At the dance, Lucy gets spotted by security and must evade Bobby while Amy gives her speech, unaware. Lucy fights her way to the auditorium, where she is just in time to hear Amy publicly condemn her. She is saddened, but catches Amy's eye and smiles hopefully. Amy retracts her entire speech, and admits that the days she spent with Lucy were the best days of her life, before running offstage. She and Lucy find each other in a storage room very like the one in which they first met, and they share another long-awaited kiss. Max and the squad catch up to them, but Max has by this time reconciled herself with the fact that her best friend is in love. She lets them go and misdirects Bobby and the security squad so that Amy and Lucy can make their escape. Scud then starts to ask something of Janet, who agrees before he has even finished speaking.

The movie ends with Lucy and Amy driving into a beautiful night together.

Cast

Sara Foster as Amy Bradshaw
Jordana Brewster as Lucy Diamond
Meagan Good as Max Brewer
Devon Aoki as Dominique
Jill Ritchie as Janet
Jimmi Simpson as Scud
Geoff Stults as Bobby Matthews
Holland Taylor as Mrs. Petrie
Michael Clarke Duncan as Mr. Phipps
Jessica Cauffiel as Ninotchka Kaprova
Aimee Garcia as Maria
Christina Kirk as Madeleine

Inception

Director, writer and editor Angela Robinson began to draw comics about the D.E.B.S. in college as a sideline to her writing (Robinson stated this in an extra on the U.S. DVD entitled "Infiltrating the D.E.B.S."). She received a $20,000 grant from Power Up to make a 10-minute short based on the concept, which toured a number of film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival. The attendant publicity secured her a $2 million greenlight to make the feature-length version, though this was conditional on her remaining attached to the project.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Critical reaction

D.E.B.S. received mixed reviews, garnering a 39% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. [1]. Common complaints are that the material seems stretched to fit its feature-length, poor acting and direction. On the positive side, some found the material amusing and the focus a refreshing change.

Box Office

D.E.B.S. did not receive a wide release, maxing out at a mere 45 theaters. After 21 days, it amassed only $97,446. [2]

Awards and nominations

Year	Festival	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2004	Berlin International Film Festival	Reader Jury of the "Siegessäule"	Angela Robinson
2005	Black Movie Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Writing	Angela Robinson (Nominated)
2005	Black Movie Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Meagan Good (Nominated)

External links

Official site
D.E.B.S. at IMDb