Poms (film)

Last updated
Poms
Poms poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byZara Hayes
Screenplay byShane Atkinson
Story by
  • Zara Hayes
  • Shane Atkinson
Produced by
  • Rose Ganguzza
  • Celyn Jones
  • Sean Marley
  • Kelly McCormick
  • Ade Shannon
  • Andy Evans
Starring
Cinematography Tim Orr
Edited byAnnette Davey
Music by Deborah Lurie
Production
companies
Distributed by STX Entertainment
Release date
  • May 10, 2019 (2019-05-10)(United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million [1]
Box office$16.5 million [2]

Poms is a 2019 American comedy film directed by Zara Hayes, starring Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, Pam Grier, Celia Weston, Alisha Boe, Phyllis Somerville (in her final film role), Charlie Tahan, Bruce McGill, and Rhea Perlman. The film follows a group of women from a retirement community who decide to start a cheerleading squad. It was theatrically released in North America on May 10, 2019, by STX Entertainment.

Contents

Plot

Martha, a woman dying of cancer, decides to forego further treatment, and relocates from her apartment in New York to a retirement community called Sun Springs in Georgia. When Martha arrives at Sun Springs, she meets community supervisor Vicki, who gives Martha a tour of the community, where she explains that every resident must belong to one of the community's clubs.

Martha moves into her new house and promptly meets her next door neighbor Sheryl. Later at night, Martha is unable to sleep due to loud noise coming from Sheryl's house, forcing her to call the community's security chief Carl to stop the noise. But Sheryl and her party sneak into Martha's house to evade Carl, where she convinces a reluctant Martha to allow them to hide there. From that night on, Sheryl becomes interested in being Martha's friend and invites her to various activities, but Martha resists.

Martha watches a television program about fireworks being used for funerals, and makes plans to use fireworks for her own funeral. A few days later, she accepts Sheryl as a friend, and while getting to know each other, Sheryl learns that Martha was a cheerleader, where she had to quit before her first game to care for her ailing mother. Sheryl says that Martha should try to be a cheerleader again. After thinking about it, Martha goes to see Sheryl at a high school where she works as a substitute teacher and convinces Sheryl to help her start up a cheerleading club in Sun Springs.

After convincing Vicki to allow them to start the club and to recruit the minimum requirement of eight members, Martha and Sheryl hold tryouts. Six women join: Olive, Alice, Ruby, Evelyn, Phyllis and Helen. Martha hires Sheryl's teenage grandson Ben to be their DJ. As the group commences practicing, it quickly becomes difficult for them due to their age and physical conditions. When Vicki tells them they have to find a new place to practice, Sheryl reacts by getting them a spot at a pep rally at the high school. In the locker room before the rally, they get teased by a group of younger cheerleaders, particularly Chloe, one of Sheryl's students. During the pep rally, Martha's group performs okay until Helen hurts her ankle. When Helen is taken to the hospital, they discover from Ben that a video of them at the pep rally has gone viral. In addition with Helen's overbearing son Tom threatening the group with a lawsuit due to her injury, Vicki and other members of the community vote unanimously to disband the club.

With the group going back to their routine lives, Martha invites Sheryl to her house for a drink. When Sheryl watches the video of them, she hears a girl's voice and recognizes it as Chloe, leading her and Martha to blame Chloe for posting the video. They go to Chloe's house and berate her, but Chloe, who has become sympathetic for them, starts crying because she didn't know that her friends would post the video. When Chloe apologizes, Martha and Sheryl forgive her and tell her that they're reassembling the cheerleading squad and need Chloe's help. Chloe agrees to become their choreographer and their coach. Back at Sun Springs, Martha inspires her teammates to come back together so they can prove everybody wrong and show that they can be a team if they work together.

With Chloe coaching them, the group improves greatly as they prepare for an upcoming cheerleading competition. Meanwhile, Martha's cancer, which she has kept secret from the group, has progressed. After leaving a group party, she collapses while walking home. In the hospital, she tells Sheryl that she's not going to the competition and is scared about dying. Sheryl urges Martha to continue her cheerleading despite her suffering.

The next day, Martha and the group rescue Helen from Tom by springing her from her bedroom and escapes from a pursuing Vicki and a sympathetic Chief Carl as they make their way to the competition. Many men from the community, including Chief Carl, gladly attend the competition. The group performs successfully and wins the audience and the other cheerleading teams over. The next scene shows a firework going off, indicating that Martha has died and had her funeral.

A year later, the group has added new members to their squad. They get ready to perform in another cheerleading competition, both as a charity benefit for cancer and in memory of Martha. During the end credits, video clips show other people doing the same kind of dancing that Martha and the group have done.

Cast

Production

In July 2016, it was announced Zara Hayes would direct the film, from a story written by Hayes and Shane Atkinson and a screenplay by Atkinson. Nick Meyer, Rose Ganguzza, Celyn Jones, Kelly McCormick and Andy Evans serve as producers on the film, while Meyer Schaberg and Marc Schaberg will serve as executive producers, under their Sierra/Affinity, Mad as Birds Films and Rose Pictures banners, respectively. [3] In May 2017, Diane Keaton and Jacki Weaver joined the cast of the film. [4] In July 2018, Pam Grier, Rhea Perlman, Celia Weston, Phyllis Somerville, Alisha Boe, Charlie Tahan and Bruce McGill joined the cast of the film. [5]

Principal photography began in July 2018, in Atlanta, Georgia. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Release

In November 2018, STX Entertainment acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film for $8–9 million. [10] It was released in the United States on May 10, 2019. [11]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Poms was released alongside Pokémon Detective Pikachu , Tolkien and The Hustle , was projected to gross $7–10 million from 2,700 theaters in its opening weekend. [12] The film made $1.5 million on its first day, including $225,000 from Thursday night previews. It ended up under-performing, debuting to just $5.4 million and finishing in sixth. [1] In its second weekend the film dropped 61% to $2.1 million, finishing ninth. [13]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 36% based on 87 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While the cast is something to cheer about, Poms squanders its talented stars on a clichéd comedy that disrespects the demographic it's trying to celebrate." [14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [15]

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported women over 25 (who made up 63% of the opening weekend demographic) gave it an 81% positive score. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheerleading</span> Athletic activity based on cheering for a team

Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to entertain the audience, or for competition. Cheerleading routines typically range anywhere from one to three minutes, and contain components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting. Cheerleading originated in the United States, where it has become a tradition. It is less prevalent in the rest of the world, except via its association with American sports or organized cheerleading contests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Keaton</span> American film actress (born 1946)

Diane Keaton is an American actress. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two Emmy Awards. She was honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 2007 and an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhea Perlman</span> American actress (born 1948)

Rhea Jo Perlman is an American actress. She is well-known for playing head waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom Cheers (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress, winning 4, and was nominated for a record six Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series. She has also appeared in films, including Canadian Bacon (1995), Matilda (1996), The Sessions (2012), Poms (2019), and Barbie (2023).

<i>Manhattan Murder Mystery</i> 1993 film by Woody Allen

Manhattan Murder Mystery is a 1993 American black comedy mystery film directed by Woody Allen, which he wrote with Marshall Brickman, and starring Allen, Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, and Diane Keaton. The film centers on a married couple's investigation of the death of their neighbor's wife.

<i>Sugar & Spice</i> 2001 film by Francine McDougall

Sugar & Spice is a 2001 American teen film directed by Francine McDougall, and starring Marley Shelton, Marla Sokoloff and Mena Suvari. The plot follows a group of high school cheerleaders who conspire and commit armed robbery when one of them becomes pregnant and desperate for money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Smith</span> American actress (born 1949)

Phyllis Smith is an American actress and casting associate. She is best known for playing Phyllis Vance in the television series The Office and her critically acclaimed voice role as Sadness in Pixar's animated franchise Inside Out. She also starred as Betty Broderick-Allen on the critically acclaimed Netflix series The OA.

<i>Cheerleader Camp</i> 1988 American film

Cheerleader Camp is a 1988 American slasher film produced and directed by John Quinn in his directorial debut, and starring Betsy Russell, Leif Garrett, Lucinda Dickey, and Lorie Griffin. The film follows a troubled young woman who arrives at a cheerleader summer camp for a competition, where a series of murders begin to occur.

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Spirit Squads comprise the cheerleading organization at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. Being the first program ever to form worldwide, the University of Minnesota is consequently considered the "Birthplace of Cheerleading". Today, the Gopher Spirit Squads consist of four separate squads: a cheer squad, a dance team, a hockey cheer squad, and the school's mascot, Goldy Gopher. The squads consistently perform well at national competitions including 21 national championships in dance since 2003, a 2nd-place finish for All-Girl in 2013, a fifth-place finish in 2017, and four-time national champion Goldy Gopher in 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2018. The current head coach is Sam Owens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny DeVito filmography</span>

Danny DeVito is an American actor and filmmaker, who has been active in film since the 1970s. One of his earliest and most notable role was in Taxi; the hilarious comedy tv show on prime time television. He played the role Martini in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975 alongside Jack Nicholson. In the 70s and 80s, he appeared in Car Wash (1976), Terms of Endearment (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984) and its sequel The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Ruthless People (1986), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Twins (1988), and The War of the Roses (1989). In 1992, he was cast in the role of the villain Penguin opposite Michael Keaton's Batman in Batman Returns. In the 90's, he starred in Renaissance Man (1994), and co-starred in the films Get Shorty with Gene Hackman (1995), Matilda with wife Rhea Perlman, which he also directed and produced. He played George Shapiro in 1999's Man on the Moon opposite Jim Carrey, who played Andy Kaufman, a real-life friend of DeVito's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacki Weaver</span> Australian actress

Jacqueline Ruth Weaver is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as Stork (1971) for which she won AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Alvin Purple (1973), and Petersen (1974). She later starred in Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Caddie (1976) for which she won the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film, Squizzy Taylor (1982), and a number of television films, miniseries, and Australian productions of plays such as Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire.

<i>Struck by Lightning</i> (2012 film) 2012 American film

Struck by Lightning is a 2012 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Brian Dannelly and written by and starring Chris Colfer. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on 21 April 2012, and was released theatrically on 11 January 2013. It features the final screen appearance of actress Polly Bergen.

The Chicago Honey Bears were a cheerleading squad for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group performed at Bears games at Soldier Field. After Super Bowl XX, the squad was disbanded, and currently, the Bears are one of the eight NFL teams that do not have cheerleaders, along with the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Laura Lynette Vikmanis is an American dietitian, personal trainer, and dancer who was a professional cheerleader for the Cincinnati Ben–Gals, the cheerleading squad of the Cincinnati Bengals. She was the oldest cheerleader in National Football League history, at 40 years of age when she joined in 2009. She is also a co-author of the book It's Not About the Pom-Poms.

<i>All Cheerleaders Die</i> 2013 American film

All Cheerleaders Die is a 2013 American horror comedy film written and directed by Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson. It is a remake of their 2001 film of the same name that was also written and directed by McKee and Sivertson, and stars Caitlin Stasey as a cheerleader who must fight against the supernatural. The film had its world premiere on September 5, 2013, at the Toronto International Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release in June 2014.

Judy Tharp Trammell is the current head choreographer of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She is also a former member of the squad. She appears in the CMT reality series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radical cheerleading</span> Performative style of political activism

Radical cheerleading is a performative style of political activism, derived from mainstream cheerleading. Radical cheerleading combines elements of peaceful protest or non-violent direct action with theatrical elements including costuming, spectacle and choreographed dance. Radical cheerleading was created by sisters Cara Jennings, Aimee Jennings and Coleen Jennings in Miami, Florida, USA in 1996. It grew to become an international movement with squads in the United States, Canada and the European Union. Radical cheerleaders create and adapt cheers that promote feminism and left-wing ideals.

<i>13: The Musical</i> 2022 Netflix film

13: The Musical is a 2022 American musical coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Tamra Davis from a screenplay written by Robert Horn, based on the 2007 stage musical of the same name by Horn, Jason Robert Brown, and Dan Elish. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Eli Golden, Gabriella Uhl, Frankie McNellis, JD McCrary, Lindsey Blackwell, Jonathan Lengel, Ramon Reed, Nolen Dubuc, Luke Islam, Liam Wignall, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Khiyla Anne, Kayleigh Cerezo, and Willow Moss, with Debra Messing, Josh Peck, Peter Hermann, and Rhea Perlman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pom Pom Squad</span> American band

Pom Pom Squad is an American indie rock/grunge band from Brooklyn, New York. It is the solo project of frontwoman Mia Berrin, and features permanent members Shelby Keller (drums) and Alex Mercuri (guitar). They released the extended plays Hate It Here and Ow in 2018 and 2019 before releasing their debut studio album Death of a Cheerleader in 2021. They toured extensively in the years following, opening for musicians PVRIS and Bartees Strange before releasing their second album Mirror Starts Moving Without Me in 2024 to positive reviews.

Shane Atkinson is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for his first feature film LaRoy, Texas, which was awarded three prizes at the 49th Deauville American Film Festival.

References

  1. 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 12, 2019). "'Pokemon Detective Pikachu' Grabs $58M In 'Endgame' Dominated Universe; Marvel Pic 3rd Highest Domestic With $724M+ – Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Poms (2019)". The Numbers . Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  3. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (July 27, 2016). "Comedy Pic 'Poms' In Works With Sierra/Affinity Aboard". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (May 5, 2017). "Diane Keaton & Jacki Weaver Cheerleading For Sierra/Affinity In 'Poms' — Cannes". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  5. ↑ Galuppo, Mia (July 12, 2018). "Pam Grier, Rhea Perlman Join Diane Keaton in 'Poms'". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Diane Keaton's 'POMS' Atlanta Casting Call for Football Players". Project Casting. July 9, 2018. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Diane Keaton's 'Poms' Atlanta Casting Call for Families". Project Casting. July 10, 2018. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Steves, Ashley (July 7, 2018). "Now Casting: Real Cheerleading Squad Wanted for 'Poms' Starring Diane Keaton + More Gigs". Backstage. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Diane Keaton's 'POMS' is Now Casting". CastingT. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (November 4, 2018). "AFM Biggie: STX Swoops On U.S. Rights To Comedy 'Poms' With Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  11. ↑ McNary, Dave (January 10, 2019). "Diane Keaton's Cheerleader Comedy 'Poms' Set for Mother's Day Weekend". Variety . Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  12. ↑ Jeremy Fuster (May 7, 2019). "Will 'Detective Pikachu' Be Super Effective Against Disney's Box-Office Domination?". TheWrap . Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  13. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (May 19, 2019). "'John Wick: Chapter 3' Takes Out 'Avengers' With $56M+ Opening, But 'Endgame' Bests 'Avatar' As 2nd Highest Grossing Pic Ever At Domestic B.O." Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Poms (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Poms reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.