Lifetime Review: 'The Wrong Cheerleader Coach'

Moving from Chicago to California for work, widowed father Jon Thompson (Corin Nemec) is hoping to make the transition as smooth as possible for his daughter Hanna (Madi Burton). Things seem to be looking up as Hanna joins tryouts for her new school's cheer team, led by the tough Janice Burke (Vivica A. Fox) and young newcomer Devan Walters (Johanna Liauw). Both being new to the school, Hanna and Devan hit it off as Devan provides a shoulder of support to Hanna during the tryout period.

But what Hanna doesn't know is that Devan's kindness hides an agenda. Having met Jon while he was registering Hanna for school, Devan has her sights set on the single dad and is befriending his daughter as a means of romancing him. And now that she's providing Hanna with private lessons, Devan thinks she's on her way to becoming a permanent member of the Thompson family--whether Jon and Hanna want her to or not.

When I first came across the synopsis for The Wrong Cheerleader Coach, I must admit I was a bit disappointed to learn that Vivica A. Fox's character would not be the titular villainess. That honor was given to Johanna Liauw, a newcomer not only to David DeCoteau's "Wrong" franchise, but to film in general. According to her IMDB, The Wrong Cheerleader Coach is her first feature-length film. Despite this momentary disappointment, I'm happy to report that this film is an immense improvement over the previous "Wrong" installment. With a more consistently fun story to tell and more actors that bring their A-game to the proceedings, The Wrong Cheerleader Coach is this series' definitive comeback performance.

Since I started this review by mentioning Johanna Liauw's Lifetime debut, it makes sense to start there. Villain quality is often a big component as to whether or not a Lifetime movie is fun to watch, and Devan Walters definitely succeeds at being a fun villainess. Liauw gives a youthful sweetness to Devan's initial interactions with Jon and Hanna, making it believable that they would trust her. But like with the best Lifetime villains, Liauw shines when it comes to Devan's psychotic side. Devan being a high school cheer coach perfectly aligns well with the personality Liauw and writer Adam Rockoff give her: an adult woman with the bratty entitlement of a 16-year-old girl, ramped up to 11. It doesn't take much to make Devan lash out, and when she does, Liauw delivers her nastiness with zeal. To Liauw's benefit, The Wrong Cheerleader Coach doesn't have Devan waste time in letting her crazy colors fly, giving her plenty of time to revel in Devan's insanity.

Joining Liauw in making her debut to the Lifetime-verse is Madi Burton as Hanna Thompson. When you compare the two, however, their differences are clear. While Liauw has a deliciously deranged villain to play, Burton's Hanna is a likable but fairly flat character. And while Liauw feels very at ease in her role, there are moments where Burton's deliveries feel awkward and wooden. But that being said, there are a good amount of moments when Burton shines as Hanna gets a few splashes of personality--particularly when she's letting her emotions out or standing up to Devan's mistreatment. Burton plays well enough off of her co-stars, and while her performance is far from perfect, she shows enough potential to where I'd like to see more of her on Lifetime and see how she improves going forward.

The definite highlight of the non-villainous cast would be Corin Nemec as Jon Thompson. While his performance in The Wrong Stepfather was lackluster and restrained, Nemec feels much more at ease in his role as a well-meaning but awkward single dad. Nemec brings an endearing quality to Jon's awkwardness, while his widower backstory gives a tragic element to his easily frazzled nature. And in a departure from Nemec's character in The Wrong Stepmother, Jon is quick to realize that something isn't right about Devan and put his foot down on her behavior. Altogether, this makes Jon Thompson a rare wholly likable Lifetime parent that you can't help but love.

(Also, while I noticed some people complaining about Jon's constant fiddling with his glasses, I personally didn't mind and felt it was perfectly in character for Jon to have something of a nervous tic)

Elsewhere, the cast plays well off the main players and bring sparks of life to their own characters. Vivica A. Fox has her traditional brand of no-nonsense appeal going on with Coach Burke, making her believable as a tough but well-intentioned cheer coach. This is especially seen during her less intense moments where she shows that, as tough as she may be, she won't tolerate Devan abusing her authority and lashing out at her girls. Bailey Kai shares in Nemec's adorableness as his love interest Melissa, striking up nice chemistry with Nemec as they meet and later bond over their troubled pasts. Mea Wilkerson and Duke Van Patten make for compelling teen side characters as Hanna's friends/allies Claire and Ben, with Claire being memorable for how Genre Savvy she is. Of all the characters, Claire is the first to become fully aware of how unstable Devan is. Tara Reid's performance as a character from Devan's past, however, stands out in the wrong way because of how stiff Reid is during her big scene in the third act. Not that her only-exists-to-give-exposition role gives her much to chew on.

The Wrong Cheerleader Coach has a few other missteps. While Burton's cheer moves aren't even close to being as bad as Dominique Booth's in Dying to Be a Cheerleader, they're still not anything to write home about--especially when you consider how Hanna is supposedly a long-time cheerleader. SPOILER ALERT I was more let down, though, by the all-too-short climax and the fact that Devan inexplicably escapes arrest and gets herself a new cheer coach job. Since the film presents a laundry list of reasons why she wouldn't be able to pull a Karma Houdini (her head wound, having her credit card tracked by police, etc), the plot holes created by this epilogue are hard to stomach. Spoilers Over

But as a whole, The Wrong Cheerleader Coach was just what I needed to restore my faith in the Wrong franchise. Unlike the last few entries, this one knows how to keep its action flowing and capture the spirit of what makes Lifetime fun. Corin Nemec gives perhaps his best "Wrong" performance yet, while Johanna Liauw makes a stellar debut to the saga. To pardon the pun, here's hoping we can take The Wrong Cheerleader Coach as a sign that DeCoteau's series is back on the right track.

Score: 8 out of 10 power sanders.