Cast:
Sara Foster (Amy Bradshaw), Jordana Brewster (Lucy Diamond), Meagan Good (Max Brewer), Devon Aoki (Dominique), Jill Ritchie (Janet), Geoff Stults (Bobby Matthews), Jimmi Simpson (Scud), Holland Taylor (Ms. Petrie), Michael Clarke Duncan (Mr. Phipps), and Jessica Cauffiel (Ninotchka Kaprova) Written and Directed by Angela Robinson (#411 - Herbie: Fully Loaded)
Review:
"I kind of “riff” on a lot of genre influences in my work, [and] in “D.E.B.S.” I’m constantly quoting other movies. It’s kind of a “mish-mash” of influences."
Sure, why not. This was the feature film debut of one Angela Robinson, a Chicago native who had made a handful of short films for nearly a decade before getting her chance with a studio movie. D.E.B.S. was actually originally a short film done in 2003 that had been sponsored by a grant from POWER UP that came from her inspiration of drawing comics when in college (she studied and graduated from Brown and NYU). The short basically was one where she "was playing with the idea of a really outrageous WB show" (so basically a riff on Charlie's Angels). The result was an a 11-minute short (released in 2003, most notably at Sundance) that Screen Gems liked enough to want to make a feature film of, complete with Robinson at the helm (Jill Ritchie was the sole returning actress from the short). The movie was released to literally less theaters than you could imagine: 45, but somehow it generated a reaction from one producer to eventually spring a deal for Robinson to direct her next film: Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005). Robinson has mostly directed in television (ironically enough, it included an episode of the failed Charlie's Angels reboot). The movie eventually sprung some sort of cult following in the "I checked it out in the video store" sense.
Okay, so we've got a movie about a secret test in the SAT that tests one on recruitment to D.E.B.S: Discipline, Energy, Beauty, Strength. I think you can see where it might lend itself to aiming for goofy parody (complete with plaid skirts), but really you could call it an offbeat romcom (a spy and a kooky criminal) with two women that just happens to be a PG-13 rated movie. It has the hit-or-miss quality in being a parody on the level of say, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), which basically means you'll either get into the movie and chuckle or will just find it a bit of a lightweight. Eh, I liked the movie fine, mainly because it had the commitment to actually go where it wanted to go without feeling like a slapdashed product, which is more than one can say for certain movies of its ilk. "Camp" or not, one will at least get the impression that Foster and Brewster are having at least some fun trying to establish a repertoire with each other; it's a "meet cute" movie that happens to have a bit of greenscreen, what's not to get? Foster is quite proud of her appearance in the film, stating once that people apparently go up to her and say that the movie made them feel "comfortable being who I am". Her shaky road to realizing what she actually wants (coming of age meets coming out?) is interesting enough to work, mostly because the movie rolls on self-realization that is at least "real". It just happens that Brewster (she's named for a song, heh) has that "it factor" when it comes to charm even in the muddle of hang-up neurosis. You get two people yearning to figure out who they are with someone around them, Brewster just is a bit funnier when accomplishing the sell (you get a scene about accidentally snapping a bra, just to point the goofy stuff). The others are fine here and there in those little side gags (not every parody has that many well-defined people besides "smokes cigarettes" anyway). You get a bit of appearance time from Duncan and Taylor that mostly fill a bit of story time (well okay, Taylor is bitingly interesting, but a regular TV viewer already knows that), which is particularly interesting to reveal that really the "secret test" is all about measuring one's ability to lie (interpret that however you like). Its cheeky enough to get away with cheap gags because it has silly fun and doesn't bite more than it can chew. The 92-minute runtime is about what you might expect in drawing every last little gag you might hear from a spoof, which is fine by me when driving off into the sunset. Ultimately, it is the kind of movie where one can be called a "gay slut" and chuckle with the shallow but committed nature that may just be up your alley, midnight movie or not.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
