Twistin ● 23rd Mar 2016
| | Rated 8/10On paper, this appears so predictable, the story of a single mom (Andy) raising a son (Joshua) who wants to be a cheerleader. Joshua's male role models are Andy's slacker brother, Alex (played by Carrie Preston's real life brother, John), who ends up crashing at the house, and Charlie, the gay next door neighbor, played by Michael Emerson (Carrie's real life husband!) The nuns at Joshua's school don't quite know what to make of the boy's adamant, impenetrable eagerness for being on the squad. There's your setup. And frankly, it sounds exactly like the kind of film Hollywood likes to use as a teachable moment by winning the viewer over with empathetic characters which will plant seeds of tolerance.
Amazingly, director James Vasquez didn't take that easy road and the film is better for it. It's a light comedy and stays that way for most of the film, with the bubbly enthusiasm of Joshua (a spirited performance from Lurie Poston) never allowing room for exaggerated or touchy-feely angst. In fact, he seems completely oblivious to any element of sexuality, despite the fact that every adult in the film has to dance around the subject that young Joshua never acknowledges.
It doesn't sound like this scenario could play out to be an entertaining film, but it does. The cast is terrific: Carrie Preston is cute & perky and has great comic timing, Tara Karsian as Sister Vivian also provides some laughs as the nun trying to deal with Joshua's unwaivering goal, and Michael Emerson as Charlie resists the clichés to create a more interesting character who doesn't rest on his stereotypes.
Ready? OK! is funny and smart, yet played feather light. There's probably a lesson hidden somewhere in all of this, but if so, you're definitely not beaten over the head with it.
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review? |