SHE'S ALL THAT by DeWyNGaLe Rating: B-
She's All That has a story that is very common. It has a new teenager twist though, which will make the story line available to a larger audience. I have been very much anticipating this new film. The up and coming Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as Zack, the most popular kid at his high school. Zack is in trouble now. His girlfriend Taylor, played by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, went on MTV's Spring Break over their school's spring break. She met a guy from the show "The Real World", Brock Hudson. (Matthew Lillard) She decides to break up with Zack. Zack is extremely angered with Taylor's decision. Zack talks with his best friend Dean, played by Paul Walker, (Varsity Blues) about what Taylor did. The two make a bet that Zack can turn any girl in the school into the prom queen in six weeks. Dean picks Laney Boggs, (Rachael Leigh Cook) the school dork. The film's first twenty minutes are quite promising. Music accompanies the opening almost the entire time. She's All That was on its way to being great until Zack made the bet.
Zack meets up with Laney and gets rejected by her. His project is even tougher now that she ignores him. He follows her around, and tries to get involved in her life. The two of them become extremely close friends. Laney is now popular. At school, Laney has even been nominated for prom queen. Zack has helped out Laney a lot. The problem is that he is doing all this for the wrong reasons.
Freddie Prinze Jr. has reassured me that he can act after his terrible performance in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The character of Zack was developed pretty well. The film explained the fact very well that he is extremely popular. Everyone looks up to Zack, even kids in middle school. Taylor's characters is very annoying at many times in the movie. She is just the kind of character that you wish wasn't even in the movie. The performance by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe was well done, but the character really annoyed me. Paul Walker's character, Dean was also annoying. Is these two characters were changed a bit, this could have helped the film out a lot.
A large cast is pretty much what saved She's All That from being terrible. Clea DuVall, Usher Raymond, and Sarah Michelle Gellar make extremely brief performances. If these characters were brought into the film more, they could have helped the total outcome. The main characters are developed pretty well in the film, but we could have known a little more about Zack and Taylor's background.
She's All That, like many teen comedies these days, makes you feel good about yourself. The music and characters are upbeat and nineties, and that's what I liked the best about the film. The dance sequence at the prom was very nicely done. The choreography was very nicely done.
Little suspense was put into the film at all. It was extremely predictable what was going to happen. If a few more twists and turns were added to the over-used plot, She's All That could have been a lot better. Many sub plots went on throughout the movie. I think the sub plot of the prom queen race could have been added to for some more fun in the film. The film is also slow moving at times. My mind drifted away three or four times throughout the film.
The Bottom Line- It could have been "all that", but not enough effort was put into it.
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