Fired Up! 2009

Having chosen this at random, seeing how far down (well, far to the right) it was on Hulu's list of movie recommendations for me, I was surprised to recognize anyone in the cast. Margo Harshman was really not on my list of people I'd expect to see in, well, anything. When I revisited Even Stevens a while back (in which she played the recurring role of Tawny Dean), it seems like I looked at her IMDB credits and didn't see a huge number of roles. Finding her in something purely at random was cool.

Harshman aside, I was supremely impressed by the pacing and delivery from the film's leading men, Nicholas D'Agosto (Shawn) and Eric Christian Olsen (Nick, who should have traded character names with his costar). The plot might be predictable, and the jokes often obvious, but they are woven together very well and there's hardly a dull moment to be found anywhere in the film.

Maybe I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "infinitely rewatchable", but as something entertaining to watch once it's hard to beat a movie like this. There's even some truly clever humor thrown in there to make you switch your brain on a few times!

So very dumb, yet kinda, actually, good... one to file under 'better than it has any right to be'.

I'm not entirely sure how, but 'Fired Up!' suffices. Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen make it work enough, they have decent chemistry and fit their respective roles - and that was needed, different casting and events would've flopped.

The humour is silly yet mildly amusing, don't get me wrong I wasn't laughing or even chuckling but I wasn't cringed out for the most part and I smirked a few times to be fair. There are some solid music choices in there, tracks from the likes of Akon and Avril Lavigne somehow fit.

I was expecting the story to a play out a little differently (worse), it actually portrays the development of the two main characters fairly well. It is quite funny how many of these 00s movies exist that involve the same sorta plot, almost a signature of the era.

I decided to watch this as I noticed it was the only one of Will Gluck's movies that I had yet to see. 'Annie' aside, he is a very reliable director. 'Friends with Benefits' is his best thus far, I'd say.