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Let me first say, that this movie had zero character development,
not-so-great dialogue and the acting wasn't always up to snuff. That
said, I loved it!
Never Been Kissed tells the tale of Josie Geller (Drew
Barrymore), a copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times, who wants to be
a reporter. She gets her big chance, when she is assigned to go under
cover at a local high school to dig up a story. The only problem is,
Josie was a total dork in high school. With
the help of her brother Rob (David Arquette), she becomes popular. Will
Josie get her story? Will she snub her nerd friends for the popular
kids? Will she get to go to the prom? Most importantly, will she hook
up with her hot English teacher?
Drew Barrymore is just perfect in this role. After seeing
her in The Wedding Singer, I wasn't sure if she could do anything
but play cute, but she comes through. She gets all the dorky moves down,
and exhibits a flair for slapstick as well. The other actors are all
adequate (although there were a few too many characters for my taste
- did we need Josie's unfunny personal assistant - the guy from the
Aaron Burr Got Milk commercials?). But I didn't go to this movie for
powerful, emotional acting. I do have to make special mention of Leelee
Sobieski (Deep Impact, Jungle 2 Jungle), who plays Josie's
nerdy friend Aldys. She looks eerily like Helen Hunt, and I can't believe
she hasn't played her younger sister.
Although based on its timing, you might think this is
another teen flick, I don't think it is aimed at teens. Rather, it is
aimed at mid to late twenties adults, those young enough to remember
high school, but old enough to have some perspective and even a little
nostalgia. I told Mar during the movie that I think everyone is fascinated
with high school. You might have loved it, you might have hated it,
but it fascinates you. And everyone thinks about going back, knowing
what you know now, and getting to do it all over again. So we live vicariously
through Josie, who gets to do just that.
If you spend a lot of time thinking about this movie,
you're sure to find inconsistencies and other errors. Why would Josie's
editor send her to high school without a specific story idea? How did
they get the fake identification to get her into school? If there are
metal detectors and security officers at the front doors, how does Josie's
coworker (played by Molly Shannon) get into the school? If you are the
type of person who can't rest unless these types of logistical questions
are solved, this is not the movie for you.
My other nitpick with the movie is the actor cast to play
the most popular guy in school, Guy. His name is Jeremy Jordan, and
while I am sure he is a very nice person, he really wasn't good looking
or charismatic enough to play the Big Man on Campus. Every time he was
on screen, I just thought, "Eww. He's gross." Mar agreed with
me. Apparently, he is a musician as well, and has a song on the soundtrack.
But I don't buy him as the most popular guy in school. [note: I finally realized where I've seen this guy before. He had a song on the Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack, and Tori Spelling used to introduce the video by saying "Jeremy Jordan, all right!" I still think he's ugly, though.]
But wait, I haven't gotten to the best part yet! The actor
who plays Josie's English teacher, Michael Vartan, is so very handsome,
it hurt to look at him. It's worth seeing the movie just to have the
opportunity to look at him on the big screen.
I can't really explain why I liked this movie so much,
just like I can't explain why I liked The Wedding Singer so much.
It's partly 80's nostalgia since there are numerous flashback scenes
where Josie is in high school. I actually cried at the end, and I can't
tell you the last time a movie made me cry - usually I'm made of stone.
Ultimately, I think I liked it because it reminded me so much of the
John Hughes films of the 80's - fairly one-dimensional characters, obvious
lessons and pretty boys to look at. The other teen movies I've seen
this year have been somewhat darker in tone (Cruel Intentions, Varsity
Blues) and this was nothing if not lighthearted. On the teen movie scale,
I give it a 9 out of 10.
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