- Title: D.E.B.S.
- IMDb: link
Giving off strong Disney Channel TV-movie vibes, 2004’s D.E.B.S. offers a campy teen spy story most notable for its central Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers romance being set between two young women on opposite sides of the law. Sara Foster stars as Amy Bradshaw, the star pupil at the clandestine academy for young women (recruited from secret SAT questions designed to uncover those with the aptitude for espionage) training them in Discipline, Energy, Beauty, and Strength.
Having recently broken up with her boyfriend (Geoff Stults), and questioning her future, Amy falls for notorious criminal Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster). Lucy, also somewhat untethered, falls for Amy as well and arranges robberies and kindappings to spend time together. Of Amy’s friends and fellow D.E.B.S., who include the more militant Max (Meagan Good), the naïve Janet (Jill Ritchie), and the promiscuous Dominique (Devon Aoki), only Janet is initially aware of the feelings between Amy and Lucy.
Aoki draws the short straw as the member of the foursome without much in the way of character other then the running gag of her being a slut. We also get Jimmi Simpson as Lucy’s confidant Scud, and Holland Taylor and Michael Clarke Duncan as notable members of the D.E.B.S. hieracrhy. And, if you don’t blink, you might also see Jennifer Carpenter, Aimee Garcia, and Jenny Mollen in small roles as other D.E.B.S.
Writer/director Angela Robinson‘s cheesy low-budget flick certainly has a high camp factor that the film leans into including the D.E.B.S. skimpy schoolgirl uniforms that may or may not have been purchased in bulk from Spirit Halloween. Despite the care Robinson takes in delivering a lesbian love story in a mainstream spy parody, I wouldn’t classify it as good. However, it does put off of some guilty pleasure vibes that have helped make it a cult classic despite its dismally-short box office disappointment. The new Blu-ray released includes both director and cast commentary along with deleted scenes.
