If there was a contest where participants tried to make films in the same vein as John Waters, But I’m A Cheerleader would be a resoundingly unanimous winner.  There isn’t one aspect of Cheerleader that seems un-Waters-esque, from the casting, to its brash colors and sets, to the film’s subject matter.  And like a Waters film, Cheerleader is a light comedy that has the foresight to end before it grows tiresome.

Natasha Lyonne (Detroit Rock City) stars as Megan, a Freemont High School cheerleader that dates the hunky captain of the school’s playoff-bound football team.  She doesn’t seem to enjoy playing tonsil hockey with her beau, instead staring into space and envisioning the spandex-covered nether regions of her fellow cheerleaders.  Her locker is adorned with photographs of well-built women, but Megan doesn’t seem to notice her fondness for the same sex.

At home, Megan’s conservative parents (Bud Cort, Dogma, and Mink Stole, Pecker) nickname their only child “Poodle” but have mixed feelings about her Melissa Etheridge poster and strict vegetarian/tofu diet.  So the bible-thumpers call True Directions, a kind of boot camp to “cure” homosexuality.  Armed with a catchy motto (“Straight is Great”), a True Direction employee named Mike (played by drag queen RuPaul) arrives at Megan’s house for an intervention.

Despite her pleadings of heterosexuality, Mike eventually takes Megan back to the TD headquarters.  Although TD offers a bizarre two-month, five-step program to alleviate your homosexual urges, it unknowingly promotes it.  Mike is an “ex-gay” who is so far out of the closet that he’s actually back in it.  TD’s militant leader (Cathy Moriarty, Crazy in Alabama) has a son with swishy tendencies (Eddie Cibrian, Third Watch).  Everything at TD is colored in garish neon pink and blue.  The women learn how to vacuum and clean rugs, while the boys chop wood and repair engines.

While most of the critics are bashing Cheerleader for its bawdy, stereotypical humor, the film went over amazingly well at a benefit screening I attended for ImageOut, a local gay and lesbian group.  If you check your political correctness at the door, Cheerleader is a hoot.  Lyonne shows a cunning talent in physical comedy, and her performance pushes what could have been a mediocre film to a hilarious success.

Cheerleader’s supporting roles are pretty good, too, especially Melanie Lynskey (Detroit Rock City) and Clea DuVall (Girl Interrupted), the latter of whom plays a moody teen inmate again.  Jamie Babbit (television’s Popular) directs from Brian Wayne Peterson’s debut script.  Also worth mentioning is Rachel Kamerman kitschy production design.

1:21 - for strong language and sexual content involving teens