Sugar & Spice

Infobox Film
name = Sugar & Spice


caption =
director = Francine McDougall
writer = Mandy Nelson
starring = Marla Sokoloff,
Marley Shelton,
Mena Suvari,
Melissa George,
Rachel Blanchard
producer = Wendy Finerman
distributor = New Line Cinema
budget = ~ US$11,000,000
released = 26 January 2001 (USA)
runtime = 81 min
language = English
imdb_id = 0186589

"Sugar & Spice" is a 2001 teen comedy/heist film directed by Francine McDougall. It was filmed entirely in the Minnesota cities of Anoka, Apple Valley, Eagan, and St Paul.

Cast

*Marla Sokoloff - Lisa Janush
*Marley Shelton - Diane Weston
*Melissa George - Cleo Miller
*Mena Suvari - Kansas Hill
*Rachel Blanchard - Hannah Wald
*Alexandra Holden - Fern Rogers
*Sarah Marsh - Lucy Whitman
*James Marsden - Jack Bartlett

Plot

Diane Weston (Marley Shelton) is a popular high school cheerleader whose life revolves around her boyfriend Jack (James Marsden) and cheerleading, as she is the captain of her school's cheerleading "A-Squad". However, when Diane becomes pregnant by Jack, her life falls apart as her parents disown her and kick her out of their home. Moving in with Jack, the two quickly get jobs (Jack working in a video store, Diane as a bank teller in a grocery store's in-house bank). Diane quickly realizes that Jack is too naive, when it comes to finances, in order to provide Diane and their child with the life she feels is entitled to her. Diane confides to her fellow cheerleaders about her problems and the group come up with an illegal way for Diane to make the money she needs to support her family: robbing banks.

With advice provided by the imprisoned mother of a fellow cheerleader (Mena Suvari), Diane and her friends don matching spandex bodysuits and identical blonde latex masks and rob a grocery store bank. Dubbed "The Betty Gang" by the media, the group successfully carry out the heist but not before rival B-Squad cheerleader Lisa Janusch discovers that her nemesis Diane and her friends are The Betty Gang. Though she goes to the police with the information, Diane confronts Lisa off-camera before the group is arrested and makes a deal with her: in exchange for Lisa providing the group an alibi and recanting all prior statements to the police, Diane will resign from the A-Squad and personally promote Lisa not only to A-Squad status, but also as the new A-Squad leader.

During the film's epilogue, it is revealed that Diane ultimately tells Jack that her share of the stolen money was won via the lottery. Jack believes Diane and the two marry. Jack goes on to become a senator, and Diane reconciles with her family, who proceed to set up a scholarship for pregnant teenagers. In a picture Diane and Jack are shown to have twin sons and a baby girl.

Trivia

*Lona Williams wrote the original screenplay for this movie, and was an executive producer. After a falling out with producers, her name was removed from the project.
*The premiere of the movie was held in Minnesota, where the movie was filmed. The entire audience was given Betty Doll masks, like the ones the girls used to rob the bank in the movie.
*Writing credits were changed to Mandy Nelson when publicity for the film began.
*References are made to the films Backdraft (1991) and Scream (1996), both starring W. Earl Brown, who plays the Terminator in this film.
*The "illegal" dismount in the bank isn't really illegal. A cradle with 2 catchers from shoulder height does not require a separate head and shoulders spotter. Extended stunts (when the bases' arms are extended up over their heads) require the extra spotter.
*The characters of Jack and Diane seem to be named after the fictional characters of John Mellencamp's song: "Jack and Diane".
*When Conan O'Brien was told that the character of Cleo was to be obsessed with him, he happily agreed to pose for a picture with Melissa George in character. A still photograph of O'Brien and Cleo is shown during the closing credits.
*Sugar and Spice was first suppose to be a black comedy about murdering for money but the producers thought that this plot was to similar to the 1999 teen black comedy "Jawbreaker" so the screenwriter re-wrote the script to what it is now. Mena Suvari has said, "Even though it doesn't have murder it's still was influenced by the movie "Heathers."

Betties

*Diane Weston - "Mastermind" Betty
**With her lensflare smile, this all-American blonde leads the Betty Gang to successful heists, and the Lincoln High "A" Squad to victory at local games. She's expecting twins with cute quarterback / muscle car-buff / future Senator Jack Bartlett, who believes her every time Diane tells him she's just won the lottery. After she marries Jack and rides off with him (in his GTO) to Capitol Hill, Diane's parents start a scholarship fund in her name for pregnant cheerleaders...allowing the Betty Gang to retire for good.
*Kansas Hill - "Rebel" Betty
**Did someone say "B-b-b-b-bad?" This "A" Squad cheerleader has been raised by her grandparents since birth, due to Kansas's mother serving two life sentences in prison without eligibility for parole. When her mother was in labor with Kansas, she overheard Kansas's father making love to a nurse in the next room; Kansas's mom produced a shotgun, blowing away the nurse along with Kansas's dad. Now Kansas aspires to earn (or steal) enough money to obtain a full legal pardon for her mom; she even barters tobacco to her mother's cell block-mates in return for heist tips.
*Cleo Miller - "Stalker" Betty
**This "A" Squad cheerleader from Lincoln High has more curves than the Indianapolis Speedway. She makes no secret of her desire to one day sleep with talk show host Conan O'Brien; in fact, she's got a picture of him monogrammed onto the seat of her color-coordinated underpants. Following her high-school graduation, Cleo becomes a horror movie-actress and leather furniture-collector...with two fine homes, one in Hollywood and the other in NYC.
*Hannah Wold - "Virgin" Betty (with optional horse and saddle)
**As the only member of the Betty Gang who enjoys church camp, she believes that only the Devil can turn you against your sisters. She irrationally desires to have her own horse, but ultimately does herself one better: following her high-school graduation, Hannah uses her cut of the gang's booty to start a successful riding school.
*Fern Rogers - "Terminator" Betty
**She loves skim milk and hates bugs. When Fern's not cheering with the Lincoln High "A" Squad or robbing banks with the Betty Gang, she helps her dad run his black-market small arms dealership. She ultimately grows into her looks, using her share of the gang's loot to travel the world as a magazine model.
*Lucy Whitman - "Brain" Betty
**This "A" Squad cheerleader from Lincoln High is a top candidate for "Most Beautiful Geek" or "Geekiest Beauty," depending on one's preference. A stickler for planning and preparation, she boasts a great complexion. Periodically, Lucy uses liquid paper to de-smudge her sneakers. Following her high-school graduation, she revolutionizes the art of pizza-boxing and becomes governess of her own island in the West Indies.
*Lisa Janusch - "Informer" Betty
**Lisa's last name is, aptly enough, taken from Janus, a two-faced god from Ancient Roman mythology. She'll do anything to overthrow Diane Weston as Captain of Lincoln High's "A" Squad...anything, that is, save deviate from the NCAA Rulebook. Ultimately, she produces a cover story which gets the Betty Gang off scott-free, in exchange for Diane's resignation from the squad. Following her high school graduation, Lisa marries Bruce: the biggest nerd in her class.

*(Info courtesy of the "S&S" DVD menu)

External links

*imdb title|id=0186589|title=Sugar & Spice
*rotten-tomatoes|id=sugar_and_spice|title=Sugar & Spice
*mojo title|id=suguarandspice|title=Sugar & Spice