I know that every other woman and she/they who was born in the early-to-mid-’90s is as obsessed with Bend It Like Beckham as I am (but did they devote a significant part of their debut memoir to a study of Keira Knightley’s hipbones in her German-nightclub going-out ’fit? Did they?), yet now that we’re officially getting a sequel to the iconic 2002 film about soccer—excuse me, “football”—friendship and on-the-field flirtation, I can’t help myself: I’m feeling greedy.
Yes, I’m extremely excited to catch up with Jules and Jess (and, to a lesser degree, Joe the soccer coach, of “Jess, I’m Irish” fame, whom I always saw as getting in the way of Jules and Jess’s totally real and not at all imaginary romantic arc), but it’s not just director Gurinder Chadha’s voice that I’m hungry for more of. I miss all of my early aughts sports-obsessed film besties, and now I don’t think it’s too crazy to wish for each and every one of them to be revived. Below, a roundup of five cult female-athletics films from the 2000s that I need to see brought back to life.
Stick It (2006)
Did I cry alongside Missy Peregrym the first time I saw this movie in theaters and watched a single one of her tears land on the balance beam as she performed a gymnastics routine while heartbroken? Absolutely, and I’d love to find out what her badass, law-flouting character Haley has gotten up to in the decades since she was pissing off Jeff Bridges and taking ice baths at the Vickerman Gymnastics Academy.
Blue Crush (2002)
Okay, technically a Blue Crush sequel does exist (it came out in 2011? Apparently?) but it includes none of the original cast (boo!), and I, for one, need to know if Anne Marie ever left Hawaii and made it big in surfing. Did her little sister Penny “quit smoking and go to college,” as Anne Marie dreamed she would? Did her friend Lena ever get her own life and/or girlfriend (we see you, Michelle Rodriguez) and stop living through Anne Marie? Did that extremely bland football player Matt stay in the picture, or did he disappear and take his credit card with him? These are questions that demand answers!
Whip It (2009)
Obviously, there would have to be some significant script updates to any sequel to this iconic Drew Barrymore-directed film about an indie weirdo from suburban Texas who finds herself by joining a roller derby league in nearby Austin, given that the film’s star, Elliot Page, has been out as a transgender man for several years. With that said, I would be extremely into a Whip It reboot that revolves around a trans guy breaking barriers by getting into derby. The derby community is, after all, notably gender-inclusive, so it kind of tracks!
Love Basketball (2000)
If only the great Gina Prince-Bythewood would give us a Love Basketball for the modern age, maybe we’d finally find out whether Quincy and Monica’s daughter (who, in a flash-forward in the original film, was seen playing basketball on a playground) ever made it all the way to the WNBA like her mother. I know Big Ellie would be thrilled to see her playing for the Liberty, and so would I.
Save the Last Dance (2001)
Is this the sexiest film ever made? In 2001, maybe, and personally, I’d love to see if Julia Stiles’s uptight, grieving ex-ballerina Sara and Sean Patrick Thomas’s morally upright, hip hop-favoring Georgetown student-to-be Derek actually made it work long-term, outside of a dance context. Girl, once you find a straight man who actually enjoys dancing and isn’t afraid to be made fun of for it, sink your claws into him and never let go!
