Rating: 

The Info

Directed by: Robert Iscoves
Written by: R. Lee Fleming Jr.
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Kevin Pollack, Kieran Culkin, Elden Henson, Anna Paquin
Produced by: Peter Abrams, Richard N. Gladstein, Robert L. Levy

The Nutshell

The most popular senior in high school is dared  to turn a class geek into the prom queen, but falls in love with her instead.

The Review

    She's All That follows in the footsteps of Varsity Blues as the year's next big teen comedy. This promises to be a big year for films such as these, with 10 Things I Hate About You, Idle Hands and American Pie all due to come out by the summer. How She's All That will eventually compare to the others remains to be seen, but on its own, it is a typically weakly written, cliche-filled fun film that should nonetheless be a hit with its core audience.

    The plot is paper-thin and unoriginal. The class stud Zach (Prinze Jr.) accepts a bet to turn Laney (Cook), a nerd, into the prom queen. He then falls in love with her. This film has nothing new to offer. Zach isn't just a popular jock, but of course a popular jock who is really a nice guy. Laney isn't just a nerd, but is such a nerd that she performs bizarre interpretative dance routines with midgets, and paints apocalyptic paintings. Zach's friends Dean and Taylor (Walker and O'Keefe) are caricatures of every hot-headed jock and meek follower-of-the-crowd in film history. They are given funny lines to say, and not much else. Every actor is at least 20, and nothing is realistic. The question is, does any of this matter?

    Not really. This film contains all of the elements that teens want in a high school film. You've got beautiful actors in every role, a great soundtrack, some jocks, some geeks, almost everyone is rich and drives nice cars, and the film's tone is light. Adding some subtle humour are Kevin Pollack and Kieran Culkin as Laney's dad and brother. Elden Henson (who teamed up with Culkin for the lovely The Mighty) and Matthew Lillard (who teams up with Prinze Jr. in the upcoming Wing Commander) add some funny bits as well. The bulk of any serious dramatic work rests on the shoulders Prinze Jr and Cook. Cook manages to make Laney an interesting romantic lead, while Prinze Jr. is only average as Zach. By the end, you know that everyone will be happy, lots of great songs will have played, and the audience will be satisfied.

Copyright - Tim Chandler

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