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Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

groktalo Even though creating a modern version of Cyrano de Bergerac is not a novel approach, the idea is still fine if it is executed well.The issue with "Whatever it takes" is that the execution is worst bit. The characters are grossly exaggerated, the scenes that should be moving are in fact outright ridiculous and the ending is awkward, to say the least.As for the acting, Marla Sokoloff appears to be getting progressively bored with her character, as the plot is developing. As for the others, the characters they are playing are so grotesquely meaningless that no serious acting effort would have been needed anyway.Finally, the only reason why this movie is not getting an 1 out of 10 is that are a few brief moments in the movie that could appear funny to someone.

LitCritChas Whatever It Takes is mislabeled as being a Teen Comedy. In actuality it's a Teen Farce that tries to be a Teen Comedy. It fails as a Comedy as the majority of the characters are unabashedly selfish individuals in pursuit of their own selfish desires with close to no redeemable qualities. That's the territory of Farce. Other examples of Teen Farces include the American Pie movies and Not Another Teen Movie. Where Whatever it Takes fails is that it tries to be a Teen Comedy only in the romance between our two "unpopular" characters, when the rest of the characters and situations fit the genre of a Farce. It's like the two leads got picked up out of a Comic world and were left trapped in a Farcical one. And the fight between the two genres of humor gets this film nowhere-fast.If it were a Comedy it would be more celebratory of the community and interested in bringing members who don't "fit in" the community into it as full fledged members with a place, a purpose, and a partner. What this film is interested in saying is that the community is too selfish and deserving of "punishment" to bother joining--which is typically the stuff of Satire or Farce.In a farce there's little to no concern for other people, and body humor frequently goes for grossing people out. Which is what this movie nearly goes out of its way to portray. The entire high school community is composed of a group of selfish individuals, the reason for their being so the movie silently postulates is due to the fact that they have very little care or respect for themselves as individuals--a realization which would work in a Comedy if that realization wasn't being completely undercut with only the minimal in character development and the most ridiculous of gross-out humor. I mean what school teaches safe sex with a giant penis and a giant condom? I almost felt sorry for Ashley, the popular girl, whose character is revealed to have a neurotic mind completely entangled around her low self-esteem, but this realization is coupled in the same moment by her eating a chocolate cake and opening her mouth to reveal the cake's blacked out her teeth. Or that she begs all night on Ryan's lawn to ask to go to prom, only to tear away her dress and reveal the skimpy bikini underneath. That kind of humor belongs in a Farce, but is out of place in a Comedy, and it completely undercuts any sympathy the character might otherwise have developed. Had she not blacked out her teeth or revealed her hidden bikini we could have seen under the veneer of her popularity and seen the scared child who desperately wants to fit in and will put herself into near-emotional abusive situations in order to get negative attention and thus feel gratified. If the movie had actually done that it could have given some more weight to the conflict between Ryan realizing his feelings for Ashley, and now feeling obligated to show Ashley how to stand up for herself and be confident in being her own person (in a John Hughes manner recalling Some Kind of Wonderful). However the opportunity is missed as the film would rather make jokes about how hot the actress is and how horny her character is--that she doesn't even notice that Ryan is replaced with another boy and still has sex with him.The soulful parts such as Ryan realizing that he actually likes Maggie as he tells Chris how to woo her in the theater, are lifted from its source material of Cyrano D'Bergerac. The rest of the movie and its sense of humor is more appropriate for a farce, which if you watch the special features seems to be the kind of humor the director is entertained by the most and pushed the actors towards in his direction.In the end the script should have seen a few more revisions to either take out the farcical humor and add some redeeming heartfelt qualities to the high school community and its most popular students, or fully embraced the farcical nature of its humor and dehumanized its pair of "unpopular" kids and thus be the precursor to Not Another Teen Movie.Either would have been better than this awkward film that can't make up its mind about what genre it is.

Catherine_Grace_Zeh WHATEVER IT TAKES, in my opinion, is a sweet, charming, romantic, hilarious, and heartwarming romantic teen comedy. If you ask me, Ashley (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) was, indeed, a very popular, as well as pretty, high school senior. Also, I thought that she, Ryan (Shane West), Maggie (Marla Sokoloff), and Chris (James Franco) looked good in the attire they wore to the prom. That was one of my most favorite parts of the movie. This was because a lot of wacky things happened then. I especially liked the after-prom party. My reason for that is because it took place in a hotel. That makes me wish I had been invited to a party like that when I was a senior in high school. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say, "Bets like that are stupid. I think you should let the person you love fall in love with you rather than wooing them." Now, in conclusion, if you're a fan of Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, or James Franco, I highly recommend this sweet, charming, hilarious, and heartwarming romantic teen comedy, that is, if you haven't seen it.

Philip Van der Veken "Whatever it Takes" isn't really THE movie that you'll remember the rest of your life. It's nothing more than just another teen movie that tells the story that every one of this movies tries to bring, spiced up with some humor.An ordinary boy is in love with the most popular girl of the school. He's too afraid to talk to her, but one of the popular guys at school will help him, in return for a favor. He'll get some help if he can make sure that his neighbor, a pretty girl that has been his friend since years, will date the popular guy, even though they are complete opposites. So he does everything he can to convince her, succeeds and gets the date with his own love interest. But of course the girl of his dreams isn't exactly what he imagined she would be like and now he understands what a wonderful girl his neighbor is... only it's already too late, or isn't it? Don't expect something mind blowing, because then you'll be very disappointed. However, I have to admit that it is far from the worst teen movie that I've ever seen. Most of the time the jokes actually worked, making this movie at least a bit better.All in all I had a rather good time. I give it a 6/10.