She's All That (1999)
Director: Robert Iscove Cast: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachel Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Kevin Pollack, Usher Raymond, Elden Henson, Kieran Culkin, Anna Paquin Screenplay: Lee Fleming Producers: Peter Abrams, Richard N. Gladstein, Robert L. Levy Runtime: 95 min. US Distribution: Miramax Rated PG-13: profanity, sexual innuendo
Copyright 1998 Nathaniel R. Atcheson
Okay, stop me if you've heard this one: the Coolest Guy in School gets dumped by his bimbo girlfriend. His best friend -- the second-coolest guy in school -- dares him to take the class nerd out on a few dates and turn her into the prom queen. The Coolest Guy has a few reservations about this, because he's also the Nicest Guy in School. Nontheless, he convinces the school nerd to go out with him, and, slowly-but-surely, he realizes that he's in love with her. We are then treated to a grand climax at the senior prom, where suspense is generated from wondering who is going to be crowned queen of the prom.
If you're looking for an original plot, you won't find it in She's All That. The problem with the high school comedy/drama is that every possible scenario was explored by John Hughes in the 80s. Nowadays, just about the only thing anyone can do to make a watchable high school comedy is to make it extremely authentic (Can't Hardly Wait) or so patently absurd that one simply can't deny its charm. This is the case with She's All That: here is a film bored with its own story, and manages to give us a lot of laughs and a few interesting characters by not focusing on the plot too much. The result is a pleasantly pointless and satisfyingly surreal teen comedy.
The Coolest Guy to whom I referred earlier is Zach Siler, played by a surprisingly funny Freddie Prinze Jr. His best friend (the second-coolest guy) is played by teen dream Paul Walker (who failed to show us his stuff in the unwatchable Meet the Deedles). Laney Boggs is the school nerd, and is embodied by Rachel Leigh Cook. Laney is not actually a nerd by all standards -- she does get good grades, but that's irrelevant (Zach did, after all, get into Dartmouth). She's mostly just a recluse; she works all the time to help out her father (Kevin Pollack) and brother (Kieran Culkin), and when she's not working, she's painting abstract art or acting in abstract stage productions.
The plot and story is certainly just an amalgamation of every high school farce ever made. What sets She's All That above most films of the genre is director Robert Iscove's tonal approach. The film is excessive and exaggerated, and paints a truly ludicrous vision of high school. It's not unrealistic, it's just cinematic hyperbole. The film takes place in Beverly Hills, so all the kids are rich (except for Laney's father, who is a self-employed pool man). All these wealthy characters provide for numerous sets and locations that are huge (my senior prom did not take place in a three-story hotel lobby) and well-kept (my high school looked more like a giant bathroom than a summer retreat on Maui).
But Iscove, writer Lee Fleming, and the actors all take the perfect tone to make She's All That a ridiculously fun film. One of the best scenes in the film is early on: Laney is in art class, and a goth queen (played by the Clea "I'm So Dark" DuVall) approach her and say, "Most artists of your type are only appreciated posthumously." Laney looks at her, confused. She continues: "So, we think you should commit suicide." This scene isn't totally relevant to the story, but it's funny and offbeat in the same way much of the film is. The subplot involving Zach's ex-girlfriend (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) and her new boyfriend (a super-self-absorbed member of MTV's The Real World, played by Matthew Lillard) is absolutely hilarious. Then there are the charming little details, like the father who watches Jeopardy! only to miss every single question.
The acting is dead-on from most of the cast; Prize Jr. stands out as a likable leading guy, and Cook wins our sympathy early on with her lovable dorkiness. Walker makes a good one-dimensional villain, and Kevin Pollack steals his scenes as Laney's father.
No one expects depth from a movie like this. In fact, I'd say that She's All That is about as good as a movie like this can be. Based on recent entries into the teen comedy genre, it seems that coming up with an original idea is basically out of the question. But She's All That proves that a few big laughs and a little bit of silliness can revive a plot even as tired and played as this one.
Psychosis Rating: 7/10
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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