But I'm A Cheerleader narrowly missed an NC-17 rating, and I'm sure this is due to its themes of homosexuality and gender identity.  It's ridiculous that a frothy satire like this could evoke an NC-17 from the MPAA, but the fact that it almost did just goes to show you how culturally necessary the film is in the first place.

But I'm A Cheerleader is the story of Megan (Natasha Lyonne) the titular cheerleader.  Megan loves to cheer, isn't exactly turned on by her football player boyfriend and, incidentally, can't stop fantasizing about the other girls in her squad.  She's a good Christian girl, and it comes as quite a shock when her boyfriend, parents and friends stage an intervention because they believe she's secretly gay. 

Megan is shipped off to a homosexual deprogramming camp called True Directions, run by Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty) with the help of her "ex-gay" son (Rock) and an "ex-gay" program director named Mike (RuPaul Charles, out of drag).  There, she joins a motley assortment of boys and girls and earnestly tries to learn how to play it straight.

The movie is set in the present day-- as evidenced by references to Melissa Etheridge and a very modern looking gay bar-- but Megan's parents and the gang at True Directions are mired in the 1950s.  In an effort to "cure" homosexuality, they teach the girls how to vacuum and dress pretty; they teach the boys how to play football and chop wood.  It's a smart move by the filmmakers, and it subtly shows that the anti-gay movement is above all, an anachronism. 

The script is smart, too.  It often bypasses the obvious laugh in favor of quieter humor, based in the absurdity of the situation and the likeability of the characters. 

The performances vary in degrees of campiness, and they're all a pleasure to watch.  Moriarty makes Mary Brown into a wonderfully misguided harridan who really believes in her program.  RuPaul's Mike conveys a subtle lust for Rock, who prances around in his tight shorts and drinks from a crazy straw, much to his mother's chagrin.

Megan and her classmates are all wonderful.  They range from an extremely butch, but not gay, girl (tweaking stereotypes is what this movie does best) to a girl named Graham, who is proudly gay, but must pass herself off as straight in order to get her trust fund.  As Megan begins to grapple with her own sexual identity, she falls hard for Graham, and soon decides to take the ultimate risk in fulfilling her own ideas of who she is, and who she loves. 

Clea DuVall (as Graham) and Lyonne have great chemistry, the movie has some truly funny moments, and the satire is simultaneously subtle and biting.  I've heard the movie criticized as being obvious and out-of-date, but judging from the recent passage of Proposition 22 in California, that sounds like wishful thinking to me.