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.

Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – April 2001.  My Basic Elements of Film making instructor comes into the classroom completely irate; the source of her anger – the Josie and the Pussycats movie. She can’t believe that Hollywood has adapted a second rate Hanna Barbara cartoon into a full length theatrical feature.  It is, in her words, “the death of cinema!” It should be noted that she has not seen the movie, but has already declared it an “irredeemable piece of garbage.”   How can an adaptation of little loved 70s cartoon possibly be good?  

She must have felt vindicated when Josie and the Pussycats opened not only to poor reviews, but poor box office as well. It was a financial failure; grossing a pathetic $14,886,015 (worldwide) on a $39 million budget.  The critics were especially harsh in their assessment of the film; Roger Ebert gave it half a star.  While it may not have been “the death of cinema,” it essentially ended the movie careers of directing/writing team of Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont.

It has baffled me why Josie and the Pussycats performed so poorly at the box office. After all, a movie doesn’t necessarily have to be good in order to be a huge success; just look at the Transformers movies. There a few reasons, I believe, why the movie did extremely poor business:

1)      The source material.  As I mentioned earlier, Josie and the Pussycats wasn’t exactly a beloved cartoon.  In fact, I’m willing to bet that the only exposure most people had to Josie and the Pussycats was their guest appearance on The New Scooby Doo Movies; the cartoon was rarely shown on syndication.  In the 1990s, the Cartoon Network did air a few episodes before replacing them with a better known cartoon.  I remember catching one or two episodes and thinking to myself, “This is a second rate Scooby Doo!” 

 On the flip side, devoted fans (all three of them) of the cartoon would probably hate the movie adaptation, because, other than the name of the band, it has almost nothing in common with the show.  Even the music is different; in the cartoon, Josie and her pals played pop rock, whereas in the movie they are more punkish.

2)      The Teen Cycle.  In 2001, the cycle of teen movies was beginning to wear thin.  Audiences were beginning to get sick of these movies and were moving on to better things; two huge fantasy movies would open later that year to great commercial and critical success, Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Thus, beginning the rise of the nerd culture.  Hollywood rediscovered the teenage audience in 1996 with the release of Scream. It was a huge success, both financially and critically, and lead to countless imitations and sequels.  This would carry over to the music industry as well; in less than a year’s time the music charts would be dominated by boy bands and female pop singers (it’s important to remember this last point, because Josie and the Pussycats satires the whole teen music scene).  The problem with the teen audience is that it is in a constant state of flux; the same crowd that made Scream a hit in 1996 would probably have little desire to watch Josie and the Pussycats in 2001. Five years maybe a short time, but it’s a huge difference in the lives of teenagers. If Josie and the Pussycats would have been released a year or two earlier, then maybe, it would have done better at the box office. 

3)      Target audience. What audience was Josie and the Pussycats trying to reach? Universal tried to sell it as a teen comedy, but it really isn’t.  It lacks the tropes that are largely associated with the teen movie. For instance, it’s not set in a high school, nor is there a well choreographed dance scene at the movie’s climax.  Also, all teen comedies tend be small, self contained stories; they rarely leave their small town setting.  Josie and the Pussycats is a lot more epic in scope; the movie begins in the small town of Riverdale, but in flash the girls are flown to the big city to make their music dreams come true. There’s also a subplot involving the disappearance of a boy band, Du Jour.  It is a far more ambitious movie than She’s All That or Ten Things I hate About You, therefore, it probably wouldn’t resonate with a tween audience, who have grown accustomed to seeing  Freddie Prinze, Jr win the girl at the end.  It doesn’t work as nostalgia (like Scooby Doo did a year later), because the 1970s cartoon (and comic book) is too obscure. It surely didn’t appeal to the college crowd, largely because it was promoted as being yet another teen comedy.  It is certainly one of the oddest movies to ever come out of a major studio. 

I was working at North Shore Cinemas in 2001, which means I could see movies for free. So, on a whim, I decided to check out Josie and the Pussycats; I was curious to see just how bad it truly was. Maybe, it was due to my low expectations, but I walked out of the theatre completely surprised by the fact that I liked the movie. I was in denial over this fact for some time. I was a film student at UWM; I’m not supposed to like drivel like Josie and the Pussycats. After all, it signified the “Death of Cinema.” When people asked me about the movie, I would merely reply that “it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.” However, I was reluctant to admit I liked it. When I watched it again on cable, I finally had to face the reality of the situation…I LIKED JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS!  I would even go as far to say that it is a genuinely good movie, despite Roger Ebert’s negative review. However, a few critics stepped forward (namely Nathan Rabin of the Onion) and bravely admitted to liking the movie. It made me feel good to know that I was not alone. 

Josie and the Pussycats certainly has its share of flaws; the biggest among them is Tara Reid as the air headed drummer, Mel. Granted, it’s a role that perfectly suits Reid limitations as an actress, but her one note performance gets a bit tiresome after awhile.  Also, the fight scene between her and former TRL host (and ultra tool) Carson Daly completely falls flat! The fight ends with Reid telling Daly that she would never go out with a guy like him. This is an injoke (at the time) as Reid and Daly were dating in real life. It is a groan inducing moment!  It makes even less sense now, considering the two of them broke up shortly after the movie. Thankfully, this joke proves to be the exception rather than the rule.  It is a shame that the filmmakers allowed Daly to appear in the movie, as it dulls the satire; instead of being a merciless attack on the music industry, it’s merely a friendly slap on the wrist. 

While Josie and the Pussycats may fail as a satire, it does make some rather valid points about the music industry; the girls are signed by the record label not because they have any musical talent, but rather they have the right look. Image is everything and the music exec, Wyatt, realizes that the three of them would make a great CD cover.  They happen to be at the right place at the right time; Wyatt has really no interest in their music.  I often wonder how different Britney Spears’ career might have been had the video for “Baby, One More Time” been a rather bland and forgettable affair.  Would teenagers have responded to video if it consisted of her dressed in a t-shirt and jeans singing to some dude across a room, instead of her prancing about in a skimpy school girl outfit? It was essentially the video that sold the song, which, in turn, led to Britney Spears becoming a pop culture phenomenon.  Britney Spears is a great example about how the look is more important than the actual music.  Ditto with the Backstreets Boys and all the other teen sensations that were big in the late 90s.  The movie even acknowledges the short shelf life of most teen pop stars; in the beginning the boy band, Du Jour, is supposedly killed in a plane accident. There is a brief tribute to them on MTV News, which ends with an in memory of "Du Jour 2000 – 2001." It also announces that their record label is going to release special editions of their albums to commemorate this loss.  Their music is not so much a work of artistic expression as it is product that is meant to be consumed and forgotten about. 

Commercialism has run amuk in the world of Josie and the Pussycats; Du Jour’s personal jet airplane has the Target logo painted on its walls. One shot is framed so that when can of Dr. Pepper is thrown into the foreground is aligned with a huge Dr. Pepper billboard in the background. The McDonald's logo lines the walls of Mel's hotel shower.

Even the popular music is just another ad space; the powers that be want to use the girls’ music into brainwashing the youth of America into accepting the newest trends, which they hope to achieve by implanting subliminal messages into their songs.  Josie and her friends are unknowing pawns in this scheme; in one scene, which follows a quick montage of the girls literally climbing up the charts, Josie asks Val and Mel if they find their meteoric rise to the fame odd. They ponder this for a second and then in unison shout, “NO!”  Wyatt momentarily breaks a sweat, afraid that he might have to replace the girls with a much more agreeable band.  It is a cyclical occurrence; when Du Jour starts to get wise to the tinkering that has been done with their music, Wyatt orders them to be killed, and the parachutes out of the plane, along with the pilots, abandoning the boys to a (seemingly) fiery end.

Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont are an extremely flawed but interesting writing/directing team; their best known movie is probably Can’t Hardly Wait, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ethan Embry.  Their screenplays tend to be a bit muddled at times; this is especially true for Josie and the Pussycats, where supporting characters have a habit of disappearing for long stretches of the movie.  The character that suffers most is Alan M, Josie’s love interest, who fails to make an impression, because he is given very little to do. He comes off as kind of dense; it's not until Josie is given an elaborate make over that he notices that she's actually quite beautiful.  Who knows? Maybe Kaplan and Elfont were sending up She's All That, also starring Rachael Leigh Cook. The romance seems like an after thought; the filmmakers realized they had to appease some convention of the genre, so they shoe horned in Alan M.  It's amazing just how irrelevant he is to the entire story line.

A similar flaw can be found in Can’t Hardly Wait, when Denise (Lauren Ambrose) inexplicable ends up sleeping with Kenny (Seth Green), solely due to the fact that two of them share a pleasant moment (after endlessly bickering for most of the film). It feels absolutely forced and a complete betrayal of the Denise character; she's arguably the most interesting character in the movie, hence it's you feel cheated when she ends up with a loser like Kenny.

On the other hand, there are lot of creative visuals in the films of Kaplan and Elfont; the best example is the introduction of Josie and the Pussycats at the beginning of the film. The girls are seen in close ups, playing their instruments in an unspecified location. They perform a rousing rendition of the (catchy) song “Three Small Words,” then the camera pulls back to reveal that they are playing a gig at a bowling alley. The bowlers respond with complete indifference and carry on with their bowling; the girls are paid five dollars for their effort.  It’s an extremely effective introduction; through a single movement of the camera, we are told all we need to know about the girls and their current situation.  After the show, Josie comments that this may have been their best gig yet. Which makes you wonder what their other gigs must have been like. 

The funniest moment in the entire film is the reappearance of Du Jour at the end of the film. One of the members of the band, Les (Alexander Martin) emerges from the shadows and reveals that he successfully landed in the airplane, and now he, along with his band mates are going to stop Fiona from carrying out her nefarious scheme. The audience is lead to be that the cavalry has come to the rescue; then the camera pans over to reveal that other DuJour members are wrapped in body casts and and barely able to move. Les reveals that he landed the plane in the parking lot of a Metallica concert, and that their rowdy fans "kicked the crap" out of them.  It is an extremely funny pay off to the Du Jour story line.

It is also to Kaplan and Elfont's credit that the characters of Josie and Val never devolve into full fledged cartoon cartoons; they are the glue that holds everything together. If Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson would have gone for a more broad, over the top approach, the movie would be overbearing and an absolute pain to watch.  It's easy to root for Josie and Val, because both are immensely likable characters. They also prove perfect foils Fiona (Parker Posey) and Wyatt (Alan Cumming). Posey is wonderfully over the top as the head of record company, Fiona, who despite her success suffers from an inferiority complex; the scene in which she tries to bond with the girls by holding a slumber party is both awkward and hilarious at the same time.  Cumming, however, steals the movie as the always scheming Wyatt. His icy cold demeanor is really a mask he wears, a way to distance himself from a painful childhood. He takes extreme delight in belittling those that he believes are his inferiors, and shows no signs of remorse when he orders Du Jour to be liquidated; murder is all in a day's work to him. 

Josie and the Pussycats is a from a perfect movie, but certainly wasn't deserving of the scorn that it received during its initial release in 2001. It is a fairly clever movie with genuinely fun and likable characters, and, most surprising of all, a fairly good soundtrack. There are certainly for worse ways you could spend your 99 minutes.

Cast: Rachael Leigh Cook (Josie), Rosario Dawson (Val), Tara Reid (Mel), Parker Posey (Fiona), Alan Cumming (Wyatt), Gabriel Mann (Alan M), Paulo Costanzo (Alexander), Missi Pyle (Alexandra), Alexander Martin (Les), Tom Butler (Agent Kelly) Seth Green (Travis), Breckin Meyer (Marco), Donald Faison (D.J.), Eugene Levy (himself), Carson Daly (himself),Aries Spears (the other Carson Daly). 

Directors: Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont.
Screenplay: Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont.
Running Time: 99 min.