Stick It: Comedy. Starring Missy Peregrym, Jeff Bridges, Vanessa Lengies and Tarah Paige. Directed by Jessica Bendinger. (PG-13. 105 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) Jessica Bendinger wrote the cheerleading dark comedy "Bring It On," and for her directorial debut, she takes the exact same premise and applies it to competitive gymnastics. This tomboy-fish-out-of-water theme has also been covered in everything from "The Bad News Bears" to the second season of "The Facts of Life."

So it’s a credit to Bendinger’s attention to the little details that make "Stick It" feel so unique and entertaining — poking fun at elite-level child athletics while still respecting its young characters and their feelings. Much of the honest dialogue has the same feel as John Hughes’ and Cameron Crowe’s movies during their best years, while there’s a half-serious hipness that recalls the first eight episodes of "The O.C."

Missy Peregrym stars as Haley, who is basically a repeat of the reluctant cheerleader character Eliza Dushku played in "Bring It On." Once a world-class gymnast, Haley would rather be listening to punk rock, but a dirt-biking stunt gone bad leaves her with a choice to make: return to the sport or go to military school.

This pivotal scene, with national treasure Polly Holliday (Flo from "Alice") playing the sentencing judge, is typical of the humor. Haley would rather head to a boot camp than see another gymnastics competition — the judge gives Haley a choice, hears her preference and sends her to leotard hell anyway. "Uh, I’m going to juvie," Haley lies, when she runs into some of her friends.

Jeff Bridges plays gymnastics coach Burt Vickerman just right, acting tough and unscrupulous while still being in on the joke. You get the impression that he watched tapes and hung out with a half-dozen real-life coaches to get the mannerisms right, even though this is mostly a comedy role.

Once in the gym, the collection of "Mean Girls"-style leaders and followers are given plenty of great lines ("Who died and made you Nadia?"), while still revealing a few surprises within their stock characters. Even the nastiest girl in the gym, played by the lovely Vanessa Lengies, shows some vulnerability: She’s been pushed so hard by her mother that the prospect of going to the prom is like you or me going to the moon.

Peregrym, a relative newcomer, is the real find here — playing straight woman to the obsessive gymnasts part of the time while showing flashes of sardonic humor when called upon. With no love interest (a bold choice by Bendinger that the studio must have hated), most of Haley’s conflict is with Vickerman, which could have been really creepy if either actor faltered. She acts tough and wears every punk and heavy metal T-shirt from the Hot Topic catalog, but lets just enough sensitivity seep out of the tough shell to remain sympathetic.

After all the good times in the first two acts, the movie stumbles with its dismount, and parts of the ending don’t make sense. Bendinger does something original with the big gym meet finale, but there are serious flaws in the execution — as if a couple of scenes are missing. The closest thing to a villain is introduced abruptly, and three of the competitors look very similar, which adds to the confusion. (It’s likely that an extended DVD will resolve most of the small problems with "Stick It," which is 105 minutes but still cruises at a quick pace.)

For anyone who might care, the gymnastics is excellent in the movie. Secondary gymnast characters are played by Nikki SooHoo and Maddy Curley, who have strong backgrounds in the sport. Bendinger didn’t have much competition in her attempt to make the best gymnastics movie ever. ("American Anthem"? "Gymkata"?) But thanks in part to the stunt doubles for Peregrym and Lengies — the ever-flexible Isabelle Severino and Annie Gagnon — when it comes to athletes who look like they know what they’re doing, "Stick It" is the "Hoosiers" of gymnastics.

In writing these kinds of movies, Bendinger appears to have found her calling. Maybe the model-turned-screenwriter has only one good idea, but that’s OK. J.D. Salinger wrote the same story over and over, and people are still sneaking onto his property.

— Advisory: This film contains profanity, sexual innuendoes and Jeff Bridges bouncing on a trampoline.