studioAT
As a twist on the 'ugly duckling' story this is a decent enough romantic comedy, but one that can't help but look a little dated.Freddie Prince Jr made a few of this type of romantic comedies in the 90's and is on good form here, supported by Matthew Lillard and Dule Hill of West Wing fame.Once it gets over a slow first 30 mins it picks up considerably, with some nice scenes between Price Jr and Leigh Cook.It's not the best film ever made, but it's enjoyable enough viewing.
generationofswine
What? No, absolutely not, I don't want to see yet another version of Taming of the Shrew made into a teen movie.What's that you say? It has Rachael Leigh Cook in it? OK, I'll drive.And that is pretty much why I not only saw She's All that, but also brought a ticket so I could see it on the big screen and then kind of maybe purchased the VHS and watched it a lot more than it deserved to be watched.I know, I know, it's an obsession, but hey, she's cute AND she can emote a hell of a lot better than Jennifer Connelly and Jennifer Connelly won an Academy Award.So As a result I've seen an unfortunate amount of Cook's movies.And this one was exactly what I thought it was: a '90s teen version of the Taming of the Shrew.So you know, if you walked out of this with your mind blown by the plot...either you never read Shakespeare in high school--which if you are my age could ONLY mean that you were in an LD class...or it means you are a Millennial that has NEVER seen a teen movie before.In either case, you know the plot, the only difference between this movie and every other teen movie based on Taming of the Shrew is that this one stars Rachael Leigh Cook and is by definition slightly better than all the rest...regardless of actual quality.
videorama-759-859391
Here's one of the better teen comedies, I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. Starring some upcoming stars, some of them who sadly faded into obscurity, much the same way as the ones did from American Pie, my only regret, was I should of seen this film fifteen years early. Of course my reason for watching this, was for the late Paul Walker, who I must admit, didn't do a bad job here, playing a real a..hole, typically un Walker'ish. Although there are a few clichéd moments as in the progression of the story, I still found this really entertaining, the transformation, staircase scene, that was later mocked in Not Another Teen movie, another one. The unoriginal premise has popular jock, Zack, Freddie Prince Junior, dumped by queen of popularity/vaingloried stuck up/bitch, Taylor. Now Freddie is given a wager, by friend, Dean, a sort of meathead, to change a chosen dork Walker's girl of choice), nerd, geek, rah rah rah, into the prom queen. Plain Jane, Rachel Leigh Cook, is the transformed one, where Zack, of course falls in love with her, but a bets a bet. We know how the rest of the story plays out, but the film's smart script, adds a lot of funny touches, like Laney's after school hobby, an artist venting group. Too, is a reality show starring Taylor's new love, jock idiot (Matthew Lillard), a kind of Vincent Cassell looking guy, who in one scene, makes such an a.. of himself, it was even embarrassing, watching from my end. Check out his bedroom. Here's one 99 film you must really see, a light hearted teen comedy, you can watch a few times. It has some revenge too that I liked: consult Duval's new appearance, and Walker's deafened ears. I like Freddie Prince Junior too. He has a charisma, or magnetism about his presence, where I never really found him impressive as an actor, more someone who got lucky. Pollack is fun as Cook's pool installer father, while Animal House's Matheson, popping back on the screen as Zack's father, marked a nice return to the big screen. Don't knock this one.
