Get Over It (2001)

Get Over it perfectly exemplifies the phrase “Timing is everything.” If the movie had been released a few months earlier (or a few months later) it might have been a box office hit.  The studio dumped it off into theatres in March of 2001 and it was met with complete indifference by its target audience, teenagers.  Just months earlier, this same audience had made Bring It On (also starring Kirsten Dunst) a smash hit, but now they could care less.  It died instantly at the box office (grossing a paltry $19 million worldwide against a 22 million budget) and quickly faded into obscurity. This cycle of teenage movies had worn itself out and audiences would begin to crave bigger and better things; the releases of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring at the end of the year would mark the beginning of studios pumping their money into popular franchises.

The pity is that Get Over It is easily the most imaginatively directed out of the teen movies and is blessed with a ridiculously overqualified cast.  The main problem Get Over It has to overcome is R. Lee Fleming, Jr.’s hackneyed script.  Fleming is not only content with stealing from other movies, but from himself as well – he wrote the screenplay to She’s All That.  For instance, in She’s All That, Zack’s girlfriend dumps him for a former reality TV star and in Get Over It, Berke’s girlfriend dumps him and hooks up with a former member of a boy band, who has transferred to their high school.  The script isn’t exactly brimming with originality.  It also shares a few plot points with Bring It On; in that movie Torrance (Dunst) falls in love with her best friend’s brother, Cliff, while in Get Over It, Berke falls in love with his best friend’s sister, Kelly (played by Dunst). In Bring It On, Clive gives Torrance a cassette tape which contains a punk song he wrote for her; this cheers her up during her darkest hour.  In Get Over It, Berke buys Kelly a tape recorder (to help her with her song writing) and records a "I Believe in You" message on a cassette tape. This inspires Kelly to throw out Dr. Oates terrible song and perform one that she has specifically written for the school musical. Though, I would chalk that up to coincidence as Get Over It went into production before Bring It On was released. Get Over It also continued the trend of adapting classic plays into teen comedies; She’s All That (Pygmalion), Ten Things I Hate About You (The Taming of the Shrew), Whatever It Takes (Cyrano de Bergerac), and She’s the Man (Twelfth Night).   In Get Over It, Berke, in a futile attempt to win back his ex-girlfriend Allison, is cast in a supporting role in the high school’s musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and is shocked to learn the play parallels his own situation.   

This brings me to the other flaw of Get Over It – the lead character Berke is completely unlikable. When Berke isn’t obsessing over Allison, he is feeling sorry for himself.  Sure, it sucks that his girlfriend dumped him, but it’s extremely annoying that whenever Kelly wants to have a genuine conversation, he keeps bringing up Allison.  The other moment that drives me nuts is after Kelly gives him a short summary of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Berke promptly starts packing up his gear to leave.  When Kelly points out they have just got started, Berke replies, “No offense, Kelly. I’m not trying to win an Oscar; I just want my girlfriend back.”
GET OVER IT, MAN!   In order for Berke to work as a character you need an extremely charismatic actor in the role and, unfortunately, Ben Foster is not that guy. Berke is the kind of role that John Cusack and Michael J. Fox could play in their sleep, but Ben Foster’s more intense style of acting is often at odds with the character. It doesn’t help that he is forced to utter lines like, “I can handle that Backstreet bitch.”  

 Foster isn’t terrible and there are few moments where his understated performance actually works; there is one scene where his “understanding” mother suggest they go for yogurt and then adds, “Or maybe Berke wants to go home and polish the rocket.”
Berke, with a look of disgust on his face, answers, “Yogurt’s good.” 

I also like the piano scene between Berke and Kelly.  She is playing a tune she wrote, on the school piano, and Berke sits down next to her.  She is too embarrassed to play the song for Berke, so he cheers her up by playing the “A.B. Cs” and she eventually joins in. There is genuine chemistry between the leads and it’s nice that it is Berke cheering Kelly up for once instead of the other way around. It’s not surprising to learn that this scene wasn’t in Fleming’s original script and was a result of reshoots (this is noticeable in that Dunst’s hair is dyed red in this scene, as she was filming Spider-Man at the time).  In fact, you will find that some of the movie's best scenes were either adlibs or rewrites.  It is almost like director Tommy O’ Haver realized the script was garbage and did whatever he could to salvage this mess, but more on that later. 

Kirsten Dunst is likable as Kelly; and is far better than the material she is given.  Kelly is also another example of Fleming’s limitations as a screenwriter; in She’s All That, Laney’s defining feature was that she was an aspiring artist, while in Get Over It, Kelly’s defining feature is that she is an aspiring songwriter.  It’s a role that doesn’t deserve an actress like Dunst, but she gives it her absolute all.

 
As mentioned before, Kirsten Dunst starred in the cheerleading comedy Bring It On and it’s interesting to compare that movie’s screenplay (written by Jessica Bendinger) to Fleming’s screenplay for Get Over It.  In Bring It On, Torrance’s main focus is to get her cheerleading squad back on track, despite all the misfortunes that have befallen her; everything else is secondary, including her potential romance with Cliff.  In Get Over It, Kelly’s main focus is on winning the love of Berke, even though she is one of the leads in the high school play. It is established early on that Kelly has a crush on Berke and views the musical (and Allison dumping him) as a chance to make her move.  She’s willing to, potentially, sabotage the high school music just so she can win over Berke; she opts to sing a song she has written instead of the number written by Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates (“Pocketful of Dreams”).  Later on, Berke returns Kelly’s gesture by changing to ending of the play so that his character ends up with hers.  This a good example of movie logic vs. real world logic: In the movie, everyone is charmed by this gesture of love, while in real life the cast members and crew would absolutely be livid that the two leads were going off script.
 

 Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates is portrayed as a narcissistic asshole, yet even he is touched by Kelly’s song.  Kelly is the ideal woman: beautiful, intelligent, and extremely loyal.  The problem is there’s no reason for these two characters to end up together other than that it’s in the script. There is also the time element which the movie kind of glosses over; in the beginning we are shown people auditioning for the play and the movie ends on opening night, which means a few months have passed.  That means for the last couple of months Berke has been pining over Allison, while Kelly has taken it in stride.  Why? A more satisfying ending would be Kelly realizing Berke is not worth her time and focusing on her performance in the stage. Why should she have to prove herself to him any ways?  Granted, this type of writing is on par with most teen comedies, but given the cast and the director, it would have been nice to see a different approach to the material. 

On the other hand, Allison is definitely a step up from Taylor, the ex-girlfriend in She’s All That.
In She’s All That, Taylor (Jodi Lyn O’ Keefe) is an irredeemable bitch who treats everyone around her like garbage, while Allison is a much more sympathetic character. It is clear that she regrets hurting Berke’s feeling, but she also realizes that it’s time to move on; their relationship has lost its spark, and she has been going through the motions for some time.  In She’s All That, Taylor cheats on Zack with an obnoxious reality TV star while on Spring Break and rather nonchalantly breaks up with him.  Allison meets Bentley ‘Striker” Scrumfeld after she has broken up with Berke and starts to date because “he’s different.”  She isn’t a malicious person; though I question her going to a party at Berke’s house, with her new boyfriend, after she has dumped him.  It’s a huge inconsistency in the character; things are already awkward enough between her and Berke, so why escalate it even further?  Was Allison originally written as a one-dimensional bitch? Or did Fleming always intend her to be a more sympathetic character?  It’s also hard to believe that a sweet natured person like Allison could ever fall for a complete cad like ‘Striker.’  In She’s All That, it makes sense that a bitchy, superficial person like Taylor would fall for a total sleazebag like Brock Hudson, but someone as intelligent as Allison would easily see through ‘Striker’s’ act.  

This brings me to my favorite performance in the movie; Shane West as Bentley ‘Striker’ Scrumfeld.  Shane West talks in a bad British accent the entire movie and it goes from being mildly amusing to dreadfully unfunny to absolutely hilarious; it does a complete 360. Most movies would have a scene where the character drops the accent and talks in his normal voice, but West absolutely commits to it. It is absolutely amazing!  West is a lot of fun as the arrogant, pretentious ‘Striker,’ and is perfect foil for Foster’s Berke.  He is such a raging douche that even Berke comes off well by comparison. 

Striker is also responsible for the most unintentionally laughable moment:  When Allison catches him making out with her best friend Maggie. This happens mere seconds after Berke tries to tell Allison that Striker was hitting on Kelly, but Allison will not listen.  She walks away, opens a door, and there’s Striker making out with Maggie. This is a scene that could easily have been shortened by having Allison witness Striker’s advances towards Kelly; she could then storm out of the house and Striker would chase after her, in a desperate attempt to explain himself. Instead, we are fed the same piece of information twice: Striker is two timing asshole.  Maggie barely registers as a character that it’s hard to feel anything towards her; she is neither sympathetic nor detestable. Maggie is one of Zoe Saldana’s earliest roles and, thankfully, she has gone onto better things, because she is completely ill served by the script.  

The wild card in the entire cast is Martin Short as drama teacher/musical director, Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates.  Whether you find Short funny or not, he does bring an unpredictable to the proceedings that this movie desperately needs.  According to O’Haver on the commentary, the look on confusion on the cast’s faces was genuine; they didn’t know what to make of Martin Short. My favorite Desmond Forrest Oates bit is when Kelly thanks him for casting her as Helena, he replies, “Me thinks thou best not botch it.” It’s an energetic performance and Short really gives a boost to an otherwise routine script. Oates is a rude, egotistically asshole who genuinely believes that his musical adaption of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an improvement on Shakespeare’s original; when Kelly suggest making changes to one of his songs, by incorporating lines from Shakespeare’s play, he is absolutely appalled. He never offers genuine direction to his actors; after Kelly has finished rehearsing her song number he tells her that it was “terrible.” 

The movie’s biggest asset is that is has Tommy O’ Haver as its director; his imaginative direction often breathes life into the stale material.  The opening is a great example of this; after Berke has been dumped by Allison, he walks down the street, carrying his box of belongings, in a dejected state. A more conventional movie would have Berke look screen right, see a couple holding hands, sigh, and then walk out of frame. O’ Haver turns into in a musical number: As Berke is walking in the middle of frame, we see Vitamin C and her band emerge from a garage, screen left, singing the Captain & Tennille song “Love Will Keep Us Together” and they begin to follow him.  Then an old couple emerges into frame and starts dancing. They are followed by a pair of newlyweds.  Then a mailman and a female UPS driver start to dance with each other.  The scene finally escalates with a marching band walking into frame, along with a baton twirler, until finally Berke can’t take it anymore and screams.  It’s not only a fun scene, but it perfectly encapsulates Berke’s victim mindset – the entire world seems to be mocking him.  No matter where looks he is reminded of his time with Allison and it’s like being hit with a blunt instrument. What is more impressive is that this whole musical number is done in a single shot. As a result, we can see the frustration build on Berke’s face as the musical number continues.    

There are also a few Zucker Brother like gags scattered throughout the picture: in one scene Dennis asks a pretty classmate of his, Dora Lynn, if she will go out on a date with Berke. It is established that Dora Lynn is accident prone and missed six years of high school due to being in a coma. When Dennis approaches her, they are in shop class and Dora Lynn is holding a blow torch. When Dennis calls her name, she turns around, without turning off the blowtorch, and accidentally sets a classmate on fire. All chaos soon breaks lose. Again, this done in a single shot and we get to see the entire tragic scene unfold before our eyes. 

It also says a lot about O’ Haver that even the minor characters are fairly well defined; my favorite bit is when Peter Wong, Dr. Oates’ prized pupil, shows a look of concern on his face after he sees how blown away Dr. Oates is by Striker’s audition.  

 I also like Jeannie Calleja as Oates’ long suffering assistant, Jessica; who is doing her very best not to reach over and strangle the insufferable drama teacher.  Get Over It is loaded with interesting faces and I like that O’ Haver gives each of them a moment to shine. It is a shame he didn’t have a better script to work with, because the movie could have been a genuine classic (as opposed to being an agreeable experience). 

Credits
Cast: Kirsten Dunst (Kelly Woods), Ben Foster (Berke Landers), Martin Short (Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates), Melissa Sagemiller (Allison), Shane West (Bentley ‘Striker’ Scrumfeld), Colin Hanks (Felix Woods), Sisqo^’ (Dennis), Mila Kunis (Basin), Zoe Saldana (Maggie), Swoosie Kurtz (Beverly Landers), Ed Begley, Jr. (Frank Landers),  Jeanie Calleja (Jessica), Christopher Jacot (Peter Wong), Dov Tiefenbach (Little Steve), Kylie Bax (Dora Lynn), Vitamin C (Herself), Carmen Electra (Mistress Moira), Coolio (Himself).

Director: Tommy O’ Haver
Screenplay: R. Lee Fleming, Jr.
Running Time: 86 min.

She's All That (1999)

She’s All That is a movie that I’ve been reluctant to write about, because I have covered the teen genre several other times. What else is there really to say?  However, She’s All That is a movie I MUST write about for it almost epitomizes everything I love (and loathe) about the genre; it is the quintessential teen comedy. It was also one of the most profitable teen movies, domestically grossing $63 million on a $10 million budget.  She’s All That came out during my Freshmen year at UW-Milwaukee, and after having seen the trailer, I remember thinking, “Wow! This movie looks f---in’ AWFUL!”  Yet, when it came out to rent on video, I decided to watch it, rationalizing that it might be unintentionally hilarious, but to my complete shock, I actually enjoyed the movie.  Granted, I went in with extremely low expectations, so the mere fact that it wasn’t the worst thing ever was genuinely surprising.  

The basic plot to She’s All That is that after his girlfriend has dumped him for an obnoxious reality star, Brock Hudson, she met on spring break, Zack Stiler (the big man on campus) claims that she is expendable and that any girl could take her place. His friend, Dean, disagrees and challenges Zack to a bet on whether he can transform any random girl into the Prom Queen.  After scanning over a few candidates, Dean chooses Laney Boggs; supposedly, the most unpopular girl in school. Why? Because she wears glasses, overalls, and loves art!  Zack is naturally horrified at this selection, but a bet is a bet, and he presses on.  This is the most ridiculous moment in She’s All That, because Rachael Leigh Cook, even with glasses and overalls, is still a very attractive women;  the filmmakers put almost no effort in deglamorizing her, probably out of fear that if they made her too nerdy audiences would bolt for the exits. 

GASP! THE UNSPEAKABLE HORROR! 

Couldn't they have at least give her acne? Or put duct tape on her glasses? ANYTHING! Laney Bogg is the hottest nerd in cinema history! Granted, the teen genre is saturated with gorgeous “unattractive” women, but in the case of She’s All That it is extremely ludicrous.  This scene is mercilessly mocked in Not Another Teen Movie (another guilty pleasure), where the very sight of Janey (the Laney surrogate), in her overalls and glasses, makes Jake and friends sick to their stomachs.  

Laney, at first, views Zack with utter contempt, but he eventually wins her over and, much to the surprise of no one in the audience, the two of them fall in love.  Will true love conquer all? Will Dean, in an act of jealously, try to sabotage the budding romance between Laney and Zack? Will Zack’s ex, Taylor, try to get back together with him after Brock proves to be a cad? Will all these story threads be resolved at the school dance? The answer to all these questions is an unequivocal ………YES!!!

It is surprising that I like She’s All That, given all of its flaws. The direction of the movie is on the level of a television sitcom. This isn't too surprising given that the director, Robert Iscove, began his career directing TV sitcoms, and would later helm the infamous box office bomb, From Justin To Kelly.  There are a few clever directorial flashes scattered throughout the film, like Zack having a nightmare that he's on The Real World with Brock, while Laney and Taylor start talking trash about him. The most eye popping moment occurs when Taylor tells Zack about how she met Brock during spring break;  the two of them are sitting on a bench outside of the high school. The film then cuts to a close up of Taylor as begins the story, then the camera pans over to reveal an outdoor pool and bunch of spring breakers partying. It's a nice transition from the present to the past without resorting to usual cinematic trickery of dissolves or wavy effects. Sadly, these moments prove to be the exception rather than rule.

The script itself is an updated version of the George Bernard Shaw classic Pygmalion.  Of course, She’s All That was not the only comedy to transpose a classic story into a high school setting, this was fairly common trend in the teen genre; Clueless was an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, 1O Things I Hate About You was a thinly disguised The Taming of the Shrew, and She’s The Man gave Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night an unnecessary face lift.  She’s All That also steals heavily from the John Hughes classic Pretty in Pink; the leads, like in that film, come from the opposite sides of the tracks. Zack belongs to the upper crust of society, his father is a doctor, while Laney‘s father is a pool cleaner and the family struggles to get by. The script was written by R. Lee Fleming, Jr., who would later pen the screenplay to Get Over It, which features the novel twist of having the protagonist’s girlfriend dump him for………an obnoxious member of the boy band, The Swingtown Lads.  Where do you get these brilliant ideas, Fleming?  It should also be noted that Get Over It is centered around a high school musical production of the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  WHOA! Fleming covered all the bases in the film.  There is, however, an especially funny scene where Zack agrees to meet Laney at an art center and finds himself having to endure a piece of performance art that consists of two midgets in leotards and a guy in a speedo uttering all sorts of nonsense, while Electronica music plays in the background. The look of shock on Zack's face is absolute priceless.

While Fleming’s script to She’s All That is strictly by the numbers,it does gets a lot of mileage out of its overqualified cast.  The name Freddie Prinze, Jr. often elicits derision when brought up in a conversation, but he is immensely charming in the role of Zack Siler. Zack, as played by Prinze, is a guy that has made a living coasting on his charismatic personality to the point that he believes his own hype; he is simply incapable of doing any wrong.  His ego takes a hit when his girlfriend unceremoniously dumps him and, to add insult to injury, he is initially rebuked by Laney. He has surrounded himself with enablers and suck ups that Laney turns out to be a breath of fresh air; she has no preconceived notions of him, and, as a result, this allows Zack to be his genuine self when he is around her.  If there is a flaw in Prinze’s performance, it is that someone as intelligent as Zack would never allow himself to be suckered into accepting Dean’s bet. Zack is a rather considerate guy, despite being a popular jock, that it seems rather uncharacteristic of him to use someone just so to prove a point. Then again, even the most intelligent person is often reduced to an irrational state after a painful break up.  It is a shame that after this movie came out, Freddie Prinze, Jr. seemed fairly content on playing the same type of role over and over again to the point that it devolved into self parody; the nadir of his career being the dreadful suspense-comedy Head Over Heels.  

  

Rachael Leigh Cook gives it her all despite all the contrivances the script constantly throws her way. It is revealed that Laney had a tough childhood (her mother died when he was young) and she wears a masks of complete indifference, never allowing anyone to get close, out of fear that they will eventually hurt her. Keith Phipps, in his review for The Onion, described Cook as being “unappealing” in this film, but I think that can largely be blamed on Fleming's writing - Laney is very high strung and devoid of any humor. When Zack comments on how beautiful the ocean looks, Laney rants about how polluted it is. However, in fairness to Fleming, this is a crucial part of her character arc, Laney starts off as being a very aloof and sheltered individual, but through Zack's influence begins to open up and develop a sense of humor; it's fitting that the final shot of the movie is a close up of her laughing. Cook gives a believable performance and manages to breathe life into a pretty underwritten character.  The main flaw in the writing is that Laney shows almost no awkwardness in her transition from being a socially inept nerd to the new campus hottie. It also complete betrays the character by having her go the prom with a complete tool like Dean (whom she doesn't like), but agrees to anyways, solely because the script demands it.  How else can Zack fully express his love for Laney and Dean get his just comeuppance? 

Is this the same girl? It can't be! SHE'S HOT!!!! 

Naturally, the movie has to find a way to separate the lovers before they can be lovingly reunited at the movie's end. In this case, Dean tells Laney about the bet and Zack confirms it. This pisses her off and she storms out of the room. Zack makes multiple attempts at calling her, but she refuses to take any of his phone calls. This portion of the movie irritates the living hell out of me! It's a problem that could easily be resolved in minutes if Laney would just allow Zack explain. Unfortunately, it is drawn out to the point of tedium. The audience knows Laney and Zack are going to end up together, but the movie still has a half hour to go, so they must delay the inevitable some how. "Hey, let's have Laney go to the dance with Dean!" Again, it should be noted that Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook do an admirable job with the material they have been given.

The late Paul Walker was a fairly limited actor, but he’s perfectly cast as the douche bag Dean. Dean is such a phony that Walker’s bland performance is actually beneficial to the film; the audience is supposed to hate Dean. A more accomplished actor might have given a more nuanced performance, but Walker is incapable of such depth, hence we despise Dean from the very get go. He is a guy that we love to hate.  Ditto for Jodi Lyn O' Keefe as Zack's bitchy ex, Taylor Vaughan.

She's All That is loaded with talent in the supporting cast, many of whom went on to bigger and better things:

Matthew Lillard is funny as the narcissistic reality star, Brock Hudson. Lillard is one of those actors that you will find either hilarious or absolutely insufferable; I belong to the former camp myself.  He is always amusing, whether it's watching reruns of himself on television on commenting, or doing a spastic dance at a party. Despite his prominent billing in the credits, Lillard has very little screen time, but he is fairly energetic and livens up the scenes he is in.

Elden Henson as Laney's nerdy best, Jesse, is fun too watch as well. In a nice turn, Jesse instantly takes a liking to Zack and even encourages Laney to go on a date him. In most teen comedies, the nerdy best friend is secretly in love with the leading lady and is usually resentful of anyone that he deems a threat. Hell, Stephen King even used this trope in his novel (and teleplay) The Stand.  In She's All That, Jesse and Laney are just friends and he only wants to see her happy.  He even manages to hook up with Zack's sister, Mackenzie (Anna Paquin), at the end. Not bad at all!
Then again, Jesse is also responsible for one of most infuriating moments in the film - while in the rest room, he over hears Dean boasting to his pals about how he is going to rob Laney of her virginity; he has paid $300 for a motel room.  After hearing this, Jesse tells Mackenzie and then they proceed to tell Zack. My question is - WHY DOESN'T HE TELL LANEY?  Given the fact that they have been best friends their entire lives, it would be logical to assume that Laney would believe Jesse. There simply no reason for her to doubt him! Jesse interrupts Zack while he's in the middle of giving his prom king acceptance speech and it takes him at least a minute to get Zack's attention!  Damn you R. Lee Fleming Jr. and your terrible screen writing!

Dulé Hill is likable as Preston. He is the voice of reason in Zack's group of friends; when Dean and Zack make the bet, he is the one that is questioning the whole thing. He is nice to Laney and invites her to play a game of volleyball, and is openly disgusted when Dean does his premature boasting in the rest room. In fact, Preston straight out tells Dean that Laney would never sleep with a guy like him.

Gabrielle Union has a couple of nice moments as Katie, Taylor's friend and Prestons' girlfriend. Katie is interesting, because despite being of Taylor's best friends, she takes an instant liking to Laney. She is especially impressed at how Laney, a wallflower, is able to handle herself among the popular crowd. When Laney accepts Preston's invitation to play volleyball, Katie moved by the gesture also agrees to join in. It is also Katie that nominates Laney for Prom Queen. It's nice departure from the usual popular girl stereotype found in teen comedies - vapid, selfish, and extremely bitchy. Granted, Taylor does a nice job living up to those on her very own.

Anna Paquin as Mackenizie. I almost think Paquin would have been a better choice for the role of Laney, because of her unconventionally pretty look.  She certainly would have been more believable in the earlier scenes, when Laney is a full fledged nerd.  As it is, Paquin is given the thankless role of Zack's sympathetic sister, Mackenzie. She is a likable enough, but it's obvious the reason she was cast was to bring an air of respectability to the movie; she is an Oscar winner, after all.

Clea Duvall is an actress that constantly pops up in movies; you may not know her name, but you definitely recognize her face. She is all too convincing as Laney's arty, morbid classmate Misty. She even suggest that Laney should think about committing suicide, because most artists were not appreciated until after they had died.  Misty gets her just comeuppance when Laney stumbles upon her throwing up in the toilet at a party. Laney initially looks after her, but Misty makes an extremely bitchy comment before passing out on the floor.  Laney then takes the opportunity to make her face up like that of a clown.

Kevin Pollak is funny and genuinely moving as Laney sometimes oblivious, but always compassionate father. He is always a joy to watch, whether it's guessing at the answers on Jeopardy and always getting them wrong, or giving his daughter a heart to heart talk.  It's a nice role for Pollak and he manages to bring some levity to the proceedings when the film most desperately needs it.

She's All That isn't world shattering cinema, but it is an entertaining movie. It doesn't have any high aspirations, it just merely wants to entertain a teenage audience for ninety minute and does so rather admirably. Hell, it certainly says a lot about the movie that I can still enjoy it in my thirties; that's usually not the case when it comes to these types of films.  While it may not be the most original teen comedy, it's probably one of the better ones to come out of the 90s, thanks to its likable and talented cast. It's also features of one of the most catchy songs of all time, "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer.

Credits
Cast:  Freddie Prinze, Jr. (Zack Siler), Rachael Leigh Cook (Laney Boggs), Matthew Lillard (Brock Hudson), Paul Walker (Dean Sampson), Jodi Lyn O’ Keefe (Taylor Vaughan), Anna Paquin (Mackenzie Siler),  Kevin Pollak (Wayne Boggs), Elden Henson (Jesse Jackson), Kieran Culkin (Simon Boggs), Gabrielle Union (Katie), Dulé Hill (Preston), Clea Duvall (Misty), Tamara Mello (Chandler), Usher Raymond (Campus D.J.),  Debbi Morgan (Ms. Rousseau), Tim Matheson (Harlan Siler) Lil’ Kim (Alex), Chris Owen (Derek Funkhouser Rutley), Alexis Arquette (Mitch), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Girl in Cafeteria).

Director: Robert Iscove
Screenplay: R. Lee Fleming, Jr.

Running Time:  95 min.