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But I'm a Cheerleader

Movie ID: 761

RT slug: but_im_a_cheerleader

RT URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader

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Release year: 1999

Runtime: 85 mins

Wide release date:

Limited release date: 2000-07-07

Festival premiere date: 1999-09-12

Streaming release date:

Tomatometer final: 43%

Audience score final:

Genres: Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+

Directors: Jamie Babbit

Writers: Brian Wayne Peterson

Producers: Andrea Sperling, Leanna Creel

MPAA rating: R

Executive Producers:

Created: 2026-06-15 17:18:35

Updated: 2026-06-15 17:18:35

Synopsis

A high school cheerleader is sent to a conversion therapy camp after her parents and friends suspect she is gay, only to discover more about herself there.

Consensus

Latest Snapshot / Canonical Review Totals

Canonical reviews: 92

Canonical fresh: 40

Canonical rotten: 52

Canonical calculated Tomatometer: 43%

Latest snapshot UTC: 2026-06-15 16:35:05

Snapshot Tomatometer: 43%

Snapshot review count: 92

Snapshot fresh count: 40

Snapshot rotten count: 52

Source note: Imported from manual review paste batch #1321 (full_snapshot)

Companies

Company Role
Lions Gate Films distributor

Cast

Billing Name Character
1 Natasha Lyonne Megan
2 Cathy Moriarty Mary Brown
3 Bud Cort Peter
4 Mink Stole Nancy
5 RuPaul Mike

Movie Import Batches

Batch ID Status Mode Created Notes
777 processed 2026-06-15 17:18:35 Processed successfully into movie_id=761 using update_mode=merge_non_empty.

Review Import Batches

Batch ID Local Snapshot UTC Snapshot Entered % Entered Count Status Notes
1321 2026-06-15 11:35:00 (America/Panama) 2026-06-15 16:35:05 43% 92 processed Mode=full_snapshot. Processed 92 row(s); 0 row error(s). Parsed unique reviews in this batch=92, fresh=40, rotten=52, tomatometer=43%. Net new reviews added=92, fresh=40, rotten=52. Current canonical totals=92 reviews, 40 fresh, 52 rotten, tomatometer=43% (43.478%). Entered review count matched parsed batch count (92). Entered tomatometer matched parsed batch value (43%).

Latest Canonical Reviews (max 100)

ID Critic Outlet Fresh? Score RT Time Raw Approx Published UTC Quote
172972 Jeff Beck The Blu Spot Rotten 2.5/5 2025-09-30T15:50:39Z 2025-09-30 15:50:39 But I'm a Cheerleader is an admirable attempt to tell the touching story of a young woman discovering her true sexual identity & potentially her true mate at the same time, but sadly it ends up being greatly hindered by rather poor execution.
172973 Noah Berlatsky Everything is Horrible (Substack) Fresh 2025-06-25T16:37:27Z 2025-06-25 16:37:27 But I’m a Cheerleader insists on being big and weird and fake and sexual and joyfully itself.
172974 Riese Bernard Autostraddle Fresh 2024-04-30T17:40:56Z 2024-04-30 17:40:56 The film manages to take these dark feelings of shame and confusion, of family rejection and religious persecution and betrayal, and make it funny and cool and even a little romantic.
172975 Wayne Broadway Black Girl Nerds Fresh 3/5 2023-06-16T21:09:52Z 2023-06-16 21:09:52 1999’s 'But I’m a Cheerleader' had all the potential to be a devastating drama. With just a little tweaking here and there, the film’s campy, satirical edge could have been blunted into something more dire and harder to watch.
172976 Allyson Johnson Cambridge Day Fresh 2022-03-21T21:52:03Z 2022-03-21 21:52:03 The film is infused with high-octane energy, larger-than-life humor and a cheeky John Waters aesthetic.
172977 Jack Hawkins HeyUGuys Rotten 2/5 2021-06-28T10:00:10Z 2021-06-28 10:00:10 This new release has been given a great Blu-ray transfer, but this 90's teen comedy remains a vanilla pantomime.
172978 Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia Fresh 2021-06-21T09:20:29Z 2021-06-21 09:20:29 Not everything comes off, but its sheer inventiveness and vibrancy is hard not to like.
172979 Bianca Garner In Their Own League Fresh 2021-02-03T00:01:54Z 2021-02-03 00:01:54 Quirky, funny and full of quotable lines.
172980 Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Fresh 3.0/4.0 2020-09-04T16:55:43Z 2020-09-04 16:55:43 There is no groundbreaking comedy, yet the film is consistently funny.
172981 Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly Fresh 4/5 2020-06-06T20:20:27Z 2020-06-06 20:20:27 An intentionally artificial romantic-comedy with a touch of memoir.
172982 Eve Tushnet Patheos Fresh 2019-06-14T00:37:46Z 2019-06-14 00:37:46 I liked it well enough when I first saw it but remembered the actual humor as being predictable and insufficiently incisive. I thought more highly of it this time around.
172983 Jason Solomons The Mail on Sunday (UK) Fresh 2019-04-01T06:15:21Z 2019-04-01 06:15:21 [But I'm a Cheerleader looks] like John Waters directing a hybrid of Private Benjamin and Girl Interrupted
172984 Paul Tatara CNN.com Rotten 2019-03-31T20:52:39Z 2019-03-31 20:52:39 But I'm a Cheerleader is a smug little comedy that tries to mock other people's self-righteousness while ignoring its own.
172985 Total Film Staff Total Film Fresh 3/5 2019-03-31T20:41:14Z 2019-03-31 20:41:14 Lyonne makes the most of the material and But I'm A Cheerleader is a flawed-but-fun romp.
172987 Leah Rozen People Magazine Fresh 2019-03-31T20:41:13Z 2019-03-31 20:41:13 But I'm a Cheerleader often leans too hard on stereotypes in reaching for its laughs, but Lyonne and DuVall, who plays the tomboy Lyonne falls for, give nervy, on-target performances.
172986 Peter Bradshaw Guardian Rotten 2019-03-31T20:41:13Z 2019-03-31 20:41:13 I would have preferred to know more in documentary terms about the actual reality of these terrible camps, rather than sit through this heavy-handed and oddly lenient comedy.
172988 Jami Bernard New York Daily News Fresh 2.5/4 2019-03-31T20:31:35Z 2019-03-31 20:31:35 First-time feature director Jamie Babbit's pink-drenched comedy is amusing and good-natured, but necessarily thin.
172989 Sky Staff Sky Cinema Fresh 3/5 2019-03-31T20:21:24Z 2019-03-31 20:21:24 It's hard to decide whether this is funny, offensive, satirical or all three.
172990 Lisa Alspector Chicago Reader Fresh 2019-03-31T18:06:00Z 2019-03-31 18:06:00 Lyonne blends hyperbole and sincerity in perfect proportions.
172991 Monica Eng Chicago Tribune Rotten 2/4 2019-03-31T18:00:55Z 2019-03-31 18:00:55 But I'm a Cheerleader fizzles out of fresh ideas early on.
172993 Stephen Farber Movieline Rotten 2019-03-27T23:56:13Z 2019-03-27 23:56:13 But I'm a Cheerleader, tries to be outrageous and inflammatory but falls pitifully flat.
172992 David Edelstein Slate Rotten 2019-03-27T23:56:13Z 2019-03-27 23:56:13 As it happens, I couldn't agree more with the point of view of But I'm a Cheerleader, but I couldn't like the movie less.
172994 Barry Paris Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rotten 2019-03-27T23:56:12Z 2019-03-27 23:56:12 Brian Wayne Peterson's script is watered-downed John Waters -- a grotesque burlesque of a gay chick-flick.
172995 Nathanael Hood Nate Hood Reviews Fresh 9/10 2019-01-27T00:21:38Z 2019-01-27 00:21:38 Both stylistic subversive and defiantly upbeat-it's one of the few prominent gay films of its era with a happy ending-it's a masterpiece of LGBT cinema. I suppose the 90s just weren't ready for it.
172996 Anne Cohen Refinery29 Fresh 2018-09-06T18:16:37Z 2018-09-06 18:16:37 What makes But I'm A Cheerleader so emotionally affecting is that despite the cotton-candy exterior, the film never lets its audience forget that these are people undergoing a traumatic experience.
172997 David Ehrenstein New Times Fresh 2017-10-03T20:26:22Z 2017-10-03 20:26:22 Director Jamie Babbit and screenwriter Brian Wayne Peterson haven't attacked their target as effectively as they might, but as mild as it may be, Cheerleader underscores the fact that gender roles are ideological in nature.
172998 Heather Boerner Common Sense Media Fresh 3/5 2010-12-18T10:50:05Z 2010-12-18 10:50:05 Gay love satire for mature older teens and up.
172999 Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com Rotten 1.5/4 2010-01-07T17:03:29Z 2010-01-07 17:03:29 Very quickly grows repetitive and groan-inducing.
173000 Ted Murphy Hollywood.com Fresh 2008-11-20T03:16:53Z 2008-11-20 03:16:53 Babbit fouls when tugging at the heartstrings but hits home runs when the humor is at its broadest.
173001 Mark Halverson Sacramento News & Review Rotten 1/5 2008-08-07T03:17:21Z 2008-08-07 03:17:21 The result is the kind of sloppy junk that gives home movies a bad name.
173002 Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Rotten D 2007-08-11T18:29:08Z 2007-08-11 18:29:08 The movie blows it by (A) trading in witless stereotypes and (B) not being remotely funny.
173003 Susan Sharpe Time Out Fresh 2006-06-24T04:32:05Z 2006-06-24 04:32:05 First rate performances all round.
173004 Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Fresh 3/4 2006-05-26T03:16:12Z 2006-05-26 03:16:12 But I'm a Cheerleader is a clever bit of social satire wrapped up in a candy-colored John Waters-type movie.
173005 Emanuel Levy Variety Rotten 2006-05-10T23:19:39Z 2006-05-10 23:19:39 Broadly conceived and schematically directed, But I'm a Cheerleader is a shallow, only mildly entertaining satire about a rehabilitation camp for gays and lesbians.
173006 Rita Kempley Washington Post Rotten 2005-12-06T19:39:56Z 2005-12-06 19:39:56 Hiss. Boo. Bah.
173007 Louis B. Parks Houston Chronicle Rotten C- 2005-07-21T03:31:25Z 2005-07-21 03:31:25 But I'm a Cheerleader has lots of jokes and gets some amused smiles, but there's no true bite.
173008 Shlomo Schwartzberg Boxoffice Magazine Rotten 2/5 2004-08-08T08:32:31Z 2004-08-08 08:32:31 Even the film's mild, candy-coated satire is eventually jettisoned in favor of an earnest plea for tolerance and letting people be who they are.
173010 Alexander Walker London Evening Standard Fresh 2003-12-15T17:09:24Z 2003-12-15 17:09:24 John Waters might have made it all more flagrantly transgressive; but somehow Jamie Babbit's tone fits the pastel-coloured satire quite nicely.
173009 Shaun Usher Daily Mail (UK) Rotten 2003-12-15T17:09:24Z 2003-12-15 17:09:24 A gallery of stereotypes insults those Ms Babbit seeks to champion or assail. Dire stuff.
173011 Garth Franklin Dark Horizons Rotten 2/5 2003-07-16T17:12:59Z 2003-07-16 17:12:59 Some films have all the ingredients for a cult hit and are sadly just let down by a poor script or bad directing.
173012 Jeanne Aufmuth Palo Alto Weekly Rotten 1.5/4 2003-05-14T17:09:39Z 2003-05-14 17:09:39 This cleverly-themed indie has enjoyed runaway hit status on the fest circuit, but its one-note-joke wears extremely thin over the course of 90 minutes.
173013 Moira Sullivan Movie Magazine International Fresh B 2003-05-11T14:08:00Z 2003-05-11 14:08:00 But I'm a Cheerleader may seem too elementary to a sophisticated crowd
173014 Chris Gore Film Threat Fresh 2.5/5 2002-12-08T08:20:58Z 2002-12-08 08:20:58 But I'm a Cheerleader is the kind of film that John Waters would have made years ago, it's borderline offensive, yet heartwarming.
173015 Matthew Turner ViewLondon Rotten 2/5 2002-10-30T08:18:21Z 2002-10-30 08:18:21 It's true that But I'm A Cheerleader is something of a one-joke movie, and is also perhaps a little over-reliant on its collection of stereotypes. However, it makes up for this with its superbly game cast.
173016 Caffeinated Clint Moviehole Rotten 2/5 2002-09-19T00:21:59Z 2002-09-19 00:21:59 Will put girls off the proffession forever. An utter mess of a movie.
173017 Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times Rotten 2002-08-15T08:13:51Z 2002-08-15 08:13:51 But I'm a Cheerleader is the result of the kind of good intentions with which the road to hell is paved.
173018 Cynthia Fuchs Nitrate Online Rotten 2002-06-18T08:12:50Z 2002-06-18 08:12:50 The audience who might benefit most from watching it either won't see the film or won't see the point.
173019 Liam Lacey Globe and Mail Rotten 2/4 2002-03-19T08:10:48Z 2002-03-19 08:10:48 Broadly campy but rarely funny.
173020 Chuck Rudolph Matinee Magazine Rotten 2002-03-08T00:23:42Z 2002-03-08 00:23:42 short A trashy, pandering camp homage to the cute quirks of homosexuality.
173021 Jason Clark Matinee Magazine Rotten C+ 2002-02-07T08:10:50Z 2002-02-07 08:10:50
173022 Jay Carr Boston Globe Rotten 2002-01-09T08:10:41Z 2002-01-09 08:10:41 Natasha Lyonne has it in her to be one of film's great young skeptics... She wants answers. Not that she's destined to get any from her new film, But I'm a Cheerleader. It shortchanges her on every count .
173023 Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Fresh 4/5 2001-12-10T18:30:08Z 2001-12-10 18:30:08 Bright, colourful and very funny.
173024 Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel Fresh 3/4 2001-10-30T18:33:59Z 2001-10-30 18:33:59 First-time director Jamie Babbit, who also gets credit for the basic story, has gotten hold of a funny idea, here. And although her approach tends to be a bit broad, But I'm a Cheerleader definitely has its moments.
173025 Glenn Kenny Premiere Magazine Rotten 2001-09-10T14:52:07Z 2001-09-10 14:52:07 Lyonne is quite appealing, and rolls her eyes in an utterly irresistible fashion. But Babbit's cartoonish farce is a little too Hanna-Barbera and not enough Tex Avery -- it's obvious, labored, and not particularly clever.
173026 Stephanie Zacharek Salon.com Rotten 2001-08-09T08:27:13Z 2001-08-09 08:27:13 Despite its good intentions, Jamie Babbit's feature debut, But I'm a Cheerleader, feels desperately forced and outmoded.
173027 Peter Travers Rolling Stone Rotten 2.5/5 2001-05-10T23:33:40Z 2001-05-10 23:33:40 Such sexual hypocrisy, still thriving in America 2000, deserves the good skewering that this Cheerleader is, sadly, too limp to deliver.
173028 Michael O'Sullivan Washington Post Rotten 2001-05-03T18:25:17Z 2001-05-03 18:25:17 The situation's inherent humor is bludgeoned to smithereens. And I really wanted to like this movie.
173029 Michael Thomson BBC.com Fresh 3/5 2001-04-17T16:04:37Z 2001-04-17 16:04:37 A plea for tolerance which embraces the need for self-expression, and the idiocy of denying it.
173063 Ernest Hardy L.A. Weekly Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 [Lyonne and Duvall] have a warm chemistry which, even when they're sparring, elevates the movie above its trying-to-be-camp blueprint and gives it heart.
173062 Sean Axmaker Seattle Post-Intelligencer Fresh C+ 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 There’s an inoffensive energy to Jamie Babbit’s lampoon of homophobia hysteria. Driven by a peppy girl group rock score, the film plays gay stereotypes as broad farce and middle-class fear as frantic panic...
173061 James Berardinelli ReelViews Rotten 2.5/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 The chasm between what But I'm a Cheerleader wants to be and what it is, isn't large, but it is significant.
173060 Amy Taubin Village Voice Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Too often she substitutes petulance for the curiosity and determination the role requires.
173059 Joe Baltake Sacramento Bee Rotten 0/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 A missed opportunity in just about every way.
173058 Richard Kuipers Urban Cinefile Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Harder to sit through than Battlefield Earth.
173057 Mac Verstandig Moviereviews.org Rotten 4/10 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00
173056 Susan Stark Detroit News Rotten 1/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00
173055 Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rotten F 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Any self-respecting lesbian should rear up in horror at [this movie].
173054 David Noh Film Journal International Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 A candy-coated, completely negligible bit of fluff that plays like emasculated John Waters.
173053 Mike Gregory Reel.com Fresh 2.5/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Cheerleader is certainly refreshing.
173052 Ross Anthony Hollywood Report Card Fresh 7/10 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 The edgy dialogue keeps the film fresh, lively and light.
173051 Greg Muskewitz eFilmCritic.com Fresh 4/5 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00
173050 Christopher Null Filmcritic.com Rotten 2/5 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 But I'm a Cheerleader plays a lot like a sitcom, only not a very funny one.
173049 Paul Sherman Boston Herald Fresh 3.5/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Between the laughs, Cheerleader actually makes some credible statements about society's suspicion of nonconformists, and it gives us a winning heroine in Megan, who finds a way to merge her homosexuality and her cheerleading.
173048 Rob Blackwelder SPLICEDWire Fresh 7/10 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Even though Babbit gets carried away at times trying to be silly while making a point, her absolutely ideal cast keeps the comedy anchored in exaggerated but emotionally true performances.
173047 Steve Rhodes Internet Reviews Rotten 6/10 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 The one-joke movie is cute but rarely funny.
173046 BeatBoxBetty Staff BeatBoxBetty.com Fresh 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 The way the film handles how gay and lesbian stereotypes ... is both charming and funny.
173045 Eric D. Snider EricDSnider.com Rotten C- 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00
173044 Rob Campbell IFilm Fresh 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 The struggles of gay teenagers are handled with vast humor, insight and honesty.
173043 Lou Lumenick New York Post Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Dumb, heavy-handed satire.
173042 E! Staff E! Online Rotten C- 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 First-time director Babbit aims to mock right-wingers' rigid views about sexuality, but the gay stereotypes here are so flaming and over-the-top that we're not quite sure whom we're supposed to laugh at.
173041 Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Rotten D 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 It is just as torturous watching this film, as it probably is going through such an indoctrination program.
173040 Scott Heller Boston Phoenix Fresh 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Jamie Babbit's glossy comedy runs out of plot way too soon but ekes out just enough laughs to serve its terrific premise.
173039 Jeff Vice Deseret News (Salt Lake City) Rotten 1.5/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 As overwhelmingly loopy as this first half of the film is, it's in the too-serious second half that things really start falling apart.
173038 Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Fresh 2.5/5 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 But I'm a Cheerleader rises above its problems to deliver the essential goods.
173037 Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion Rotten F 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Crushingly obvious and abysmally unfunny.
173036 Wesley Morris San Francisco Examiner Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 The director has brewed a farce around Lyonne's Megan that manages to squander the tomboy-in-chiffon well before it grows a heart and falls away.
173035 Harvey S. Karten rec.arts.movies.reviews Rotten 5/10 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 ... In her directorial debut, Jamie Babbit plays with a bright premise, then proceeds to make a hash of her film.
173034 Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle Fresh 3/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 But I'm a Cheerleader is funny, but it's not only funny.
173033 Elvis Mitchell New York Times Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 So campy it reflexively sends an elbow to its own ribs.
173032 Maitland McDonagh TV Guide Rotten 2.5/5 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Most of the film's imagination and energy seem to have gone into the clever casting.
173031 Gemma Files Film.com Rotten 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 Ungainly sentiment and unnecessary stylization.
173030 Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Fresh 3/4 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z 2000-01-01 00:00:00 But I'm a Cheerleader is not a great, breakout comedy, but more the kind of movie that might eventually become a regular on the midnight cult circuit.

Showing the latest 100 canonical reviews for this movie.