DOWN TO YOU RATING: 6.5 /10 --> So-so
For more reviews and movie trivia quizzes, visit http://www.joblo.com/
Teen flicks. Can a film still be considered a "teen flick" when it is set in college, speaks of "true love", the path of one's professional career and reflective issues such as pregnancy, cheating on one's mate and long-distance relationships? Of course! Especially when it stars two of the hot young actors from last year's teen flick hits, SHE'S ALL THAT (6.5/10) and 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (7/10), Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles, respectively.
PLOT: A young man set to begin his life after college, ponders the moments that led to his first true love, their misadventures within the world of the tingles, and the happy and sad times of their topsy-turvy relationship.
CRITIQUE: Kinda cute, kinda sweet, kinda corny, kinda predictable, kinda romantic, kinda funny, kinda dramatic and kinda forgettable...and ultimately, kinda so-so. I've generally given greater points to these predictable "teen flicks" when they come saddled with a couple of charming stars who can hold my attention for the entire 90 minutes, and this one had just that, with Freddie Prinze coming through once again as the shy, goofy, romantic lead, and Julia Stiles, as the cute, ambitious, engaging co-star. Does the film offer us any new insights into those loopy men from Mars or women from Venus? Well, not really, but I suppose I just happened to be in the mood for a light, romantic, easy-going drama with a couple of laughs (The "Cooks!" TV show was pretty funny), and I guess this movie offered me just that with not much else. Truth is, this film is probably more of a "video movie" than anything else. Rent it with your better half, cuddle up next to a wood-burning fire, warm up some nachos and get jiggy with it for the rest of the nite. You might also want to bring a date to this film, seeing as it has a lot to do with people meeting and getting to know each other better, and be prepared to jostle over the film's depth for a maximum of five minutes afterwards.
You'll also be happy to know that there are no fart, poop or vomit jokes in the entire film (Although those types of jokes do have a place in some movies), and that the two sing-a-long sequences from the respective stars, despite lacking originality, were quite lovey-dovey and adorable in their own sugar-coated, manufactured way. I have to admit that I didn't much care for the exaggerated side characters in the film, especially Selma Blair and Zak Orth, who just seemed to be there as "bizarre" distractions to the main cute couple. All in all, I guess it would help if you were in a relationship yourself when you see this movie, or at least have savored a touch of the big L sometime in your lifetime. Otherwise, suck in all the sap and goofy romance still rolling around in your grey ol' heart, and enjoy this light feather of a film for nothing more than what it is: the simple love story of a couple of cute kids.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: One of Freddie Prinze Jr's earliest roles was playing the role of "Tough Guy" on the February 10, 1995 episode of TV's "Family Matters". He had a four-line part playing some punk kid who brought a gun to school. He then went on to star in several after-school specials, including one called "Detention: Siege at Johnson High", co-starring the man who plays his dad in this picture, Henry Winkler. Some of you might remember Julia Stiles from one of her earliest roles as Bridget O'Meara, daughter of Tom O'Meara, played by Harrison Ford, in 1997's THE DEVIL'S OWN. Selma Blair is probably best known for her "shocking" french-kissing scene with Sarah Michelle Gellar in 1999's CRUEL INTENTIONS (7.5/10). Ironically, Selma herself once auditioned for the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a role which Gellar has owned since the show's debut in 1997. This is director Kris Isacsson's first feature film. In 1996, he was credited as being Barbra Streisand's "assistant" for the film THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES (7/10).
Review Date: January 23, 2000 Director: Kris Isacsson Writer: Kris Isacsson Producers: Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente Actors: Freddie Prinze Jr. as Al Connelly Julia Stiles as Imogen Genre: Romantic comedy Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------- (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews