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D.E.B.S.

2005, Movie, PG, 91 mins

D.E.B.S.: Review

D.E.B.S.
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Angela Robinson's scrumptious feature debut reworks the '80s teen comedy into something supremely silly yet slyly subversive: a gay girl-power romance in skimpy exploitation clothing. You didn't know it at the time, girls, but when you took the SATs you were also taking a test to determine whether you had the right stuff for D.E.B.S., a top-secret, no-boys-allowed intelligence organization made up of ruthless teen crime fighters in "Hit Me"-Britney schoolgirl getups — short plaid skirts, crisp white blouses and kneesocks. Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster) is the only candidate ever to earn a perfect score, making her the poster girl for the D.E.B.S. Academy, run by the no-nonsense Mr. Phipps (Michael Clarke Duncan) and imperious headmistress Mrs. Peatree (Holland Taylor). Amy, however, is less certain about her future as a superagent: She's just broken up with Bobby (Geoff Stults), her boyfriend from Homeland Security, and secretly wants to ditch it all to attend art school in Barcelona. Amy's crisis is thrown into high relief when the intel community learns that the elusive criminal mastermind Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster) and her horde of hooligans, led by the nerdy Scud (Jimmi Simpson), has surfaced in Los Angeles. Amy and the other Squad 1 D.E.B.s — ambitious captain Max (Meagan Good), chain-smoking Dominique (Devon Aoki) and daffy Dalton School grad Janet (Jill Ritchie) — are sent to spy on Lucy at a trendy French restaurant, where she's actually on a blind date with psycho Russian assassin Ninotchka (Jessica Cauffiel). Amy isn't just surprised that Lucy's gay; she's also surprised by how attractive she finds this fetching Demi Moore look-alike. When the D.E.B.s' cover is blown and Amy and Lucy accidentally bump into each other in the ensuing chaos, it's lust-to-love at first sight. The rest of the squad mistake the encounter for a bold attempt to collar the villain — only Janet knows the truth — and Mrs. Peatree promotes Amy to squad leader and hands her a prime directive she's more than happy to complete: Get Lucy Diamond! It's all incredibly goofy, and if the story feels naggingly familiar, it should: It's a clever remake of Martha Coolidge's VALLEY GIRL (1983). But the referencing doesn't detract one whit from this hugely entertaining and unexpectedly heartfelt film's originality; this time around our girl jumps the barrier of sexuality, rather than class. The terrific soundtrack, which includes the Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet" and New Order's most excellent "Temptation," is heavily weighted towards the '80s, which is exactly as it should be. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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