`She's All That' – Mildly Cute, But It Ain't All That by Homer Yen (c) 1999
As Valentine Day approaches, it'll be natural for all of us to start considering what movies we might want to see that will make us feel good, feel happy, and of course feel a bit more romantic. And for the teenybopper set, this film does manage to accomplish its goals of delivering a cute, albeit goofy, romantic comedy.
In `She's All That', we meet up with Zach (Freddie Prinze Jr.) an admired student whom everyone else wants to emulate. Good-looking, loaded with charisma, and an all-around athlete, he has a good future ahead of him. But his popularity and perceived greatness may be in jeopardy when his airy but sexpot of a girlfriend, Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), leaves him for another guy. So, like all self-deluded, high school seniors who believe that they are irresistible, he starts bragging to his friends that he can have any girl in the school. Moreover, with a little guidance on his part, he can turn that girl into the next prom queen. Of course, this line of talking eventually evolves into a wager. And the one that has been chosen for Zach's challenge is Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook), a bespectacled, mousy art student whose oeuvre of work seems to represent only despair and hatred. `No way,' says Zach. `She's scary and inaccessible.' But at the expense of suffering another setback to his ego, he begins the process of turning the mouse into a queen.
The transformation process offers no surprises. She's wary at first but is curious as to why he's paying so much attention to her. And once she takes off those thick-rimmed Lisa Loeb-like glasses, gets a new makeover and haircut, and develops an ounce of confidence, she is actually very attractive. Zach eventually sees something in her that he's never noticed before, and she feels a never-before-felt sense of attachment. But whether they eventually wind up with each other or not isn't as interesting as the peripheral elements of the movie.
This film adds some very funny moments about high school life. There are the well-defined cliques such as the one whose most vital items are lipstick and beepers. There's the prom queen race between Laney, who relies on the old-fashioned method of posters versus the filthy rich Taylor, who gives away free samples of Latte. The high school seems located in a wealthy enclave of California. I found it amusing seeing how all of the students drove exotic cars and had parties in houses that could hold 500 people. And watching the climactic prom scene, I couldn't help but grin as all of the students (who all look like they're at least 23) broke out into a choreographed dance number. It certainly put my high school prom to shame. Yet despite these goofy moments, `She's All That' is a very, very lightweight movie. Zach was just too nice for us to doubt that there would ever be a problem breaking into Laney's world. And as we moved closer to the prom queen elections, it seemed that there should have been more showdowns between Laney and the bitchy Taylor. But I guess as February 14th approaches, no one really wants confrontation.
Grade: C+
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