The Cheetah Girls

“The Cheetah Girls,” the 2003 original movie from Disney Channel, tries to be a culturally diverse morality lesson that is posing as musical fantasy. Laura Fries said in her review, “Instead, it’s a diva training film with a plot about as memorable as a Kelly Clarkson pic. Based on the books by Deborah Gregory and produced by Debra Martin Chase and Whitney Houston, the pic is all about the hair, the look, the attitude. And like hungry cheetahs on the prowl, teen audiences will probably eat it up.”

This urban movie about diverse high school girls coming together in a singing group should be a satire of today’s celebrities. Fries said, “But any lessons about the evil trappings of pop stardom — not to mention lip-synching –most definitely will be lost on the “American Idol” generation, since they totally escaped the filmmakers.”

Fries continued, “Ironically, “Cheetah Girls” supposedly denounces manufactured pop music and marketing over artistry, yet it plays like a two-hour fashion commercial and culminates in a ridiculous lip-synching extravaganza.”

The movie does have a few things going for it, mainly Raven, an interesting and flexible young actress who has charm and skill, and Emmy winner Lynn Whitfield as the overly protective Cheetah mom, Dorothea Garibaldi. Fries noted, “Then there’s the squeezably cute Toto, the Cheetah Girls’ Bichon Frise mascot, who nearly steals the show.”

Raven plays Galleria Garibaldi, an honest songwriter who, along with her other Cheetah Girls, hopes to win the school talent show. The team, including the energetic Chanel (Adrienne Bailon), transferred Southern girl Aqua (Kiely Williams) and the shy but motivated Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan), share performing talents, but Galleria is the self-appointed leader. Fries mentioned, “The girls, each representing a slice of the New York cultural experience, believe “all Cheetah Girls are created equal, but not alike,” and prowl the halls with intimidating confidence decked out in more animal prints than you’d see at a Liberace convention.”

To prepare their performance, the girls are taught by singer-turned-drama teacher Drinka Champagne, played by Sandra Caldwell, and closely supervised by the protective Dorothea. Despite Dorothea shows support and encourage Galleria’s drams of a music career, the former supermodel worries that Galleria will go through the unavoidable tragedies in fame.

The team makes it big when they get the attention of Def Duck Records music manager Jackal Johnson, played by Vincent Corazza. Fries noted, “But the idea of pop stardom sends the Cheetahs into hyperdrive, especially Galleria, who gets so out of hand that the girls spawn an anti-Cheetah Girls Web site before they even sign a record deal.”

Fries continued, “Writer Alison Taylor has got the attitude and diva slanguage down with dialogue like, “If he can’t respect my art, he can’t have my heart,” but she somehow fails to make the distinction between girl power and just plain obnoxiousness.” The subplot about Dorinda’s foster-parent upbringing is used more for people to feel sympathy for, other than the self-empowering suggestions of Deborah Gregory’s books.

It also doesn’t help that director Oz Scott lowers the full range of human emotion to a simple fact: start crying, play the music.

Scott rushes and rather bizarrely finishes everything with a nonsensical Toto rescue story. Even though there is bad behavior throughout, the girls are rewarded in the end, because, as “The Cheetah Girls” would want, winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

Fries noted, ‘As musical performers, the young stars would easily make the “American Idol” semifinals –Williams and Bailon have the edge as real-life members of a pop group, 3LW.” However, as actors, nobody except Raven is the highlight. Caldwell as the former singer is enjoyable in a completely humorless movie.

Fries ended her review by noting, “Music composer John Van Tongeren provides a collection of radio-ready pop songs, particularly the signature number “Together We Can,” while choreographer Troy Liddell offers all the moves that every aspiring girl group should know. Costume designer Resa McConaghy clearly has fun with the animal theme throughout the pic, but makes an unfortunate choice in the finale, dressing the girls in color-coordinated outfits that make them look like the Wiggles in sequins.”

As I had mentioned yesterday, I had laughed throughout the movie at how predictable it was. I just knew what was going to happen, and I wasn’t surprised at how right I was when I knew what happened at the end. If you liked this movie, great, there is an audience out there for “The Cheetah Girls,” mainly little girls. However, I couldn’t enjoy the movie, so I won’t be picking this up again after watching it the first time.

Look out tomorrow when I review another movie that I found myself really enjoying in “Disney Channel Original Movie Month.”