She's All That

Rating:
Summary: Was it Written by the Dyslexic Volleyball Guy?
Review: This movie has a thin plot. Yet, it's some how spastic and raipd. I guess the point is that it deeply appeals to teen agers. I shouldn't have rented it. It made me feel old. And depressed, because if these are real teenagers, then our future has little hope.

The video quality is suprisingly good, so I annoyed my wife by playing with the settings on my television and the player. The sound quality lacking. Interestingly, it reminded me of FM radio; a muddy high end that has a forced midrange.

Rating:
Summary: "She's All That"....and then some
Review: This is a charming film. Loved it. A recent grad from high school? This story really takes you back to a time when popularity was EVERYTHING. The story's characters are so familiar, as well as intensely charismatic.

Freddie Prinze, Jr. has done it again!

Rating:
Summary: Very Adorable!!!!!
Review: In one split second Lanie Boggs (Rachel Leigh Cook) went from nobody to somebody. I thought this movie was very lovable even though it's a tale that's already been told a number of times before. Ater being dumped by Taylor Vaughn, Zach (Freddie Prinze Jr.) bets one of his classmates that he could use his popularity, and turn any girl in their whole school and make her not only popular but, turn her into the prom queen. Lanie Boggs was chosen to be that girl but, all that comes to a screeching halt when Zach falls in love with Lanie. This movie is not a masterpiece or a classic but, it is a good date movie.

Rating:
Summary: Pygmalion '99
Review: Let's get one thing straight before I make my critique: for those who are expecting an earnest depiction of high school students and high school life, look elsewhere. "She's All That" is as over-the-top as it can get and the movie ironically contains random jokes and parodies about supposedly realistic programs as well, namely the MTV-spawned reality show "The Real World" and its progeny series "Road Rules". This movie is all in good fun but it does manage to hint at a good deal of real life trifles that particular people suffer in that highly-influential and barely survivable place that we geeks and outsiders call "high school". Well, maybe not "high school" (probably closer to HELL), but anyone who was picked on or unjustifiably ostracized gets the picture.

The endearing Rachael Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze, Jr. star in this sugary ditty about a dude named Zack Silar (Prinze) who is ditched by his long-time armpiece Taylor Vaughn (O'Keefe) only six weeks before the prom. He suffers public humiliation in front of his jock companions and, moreover, the entire school. His less-than-sympathetic pal Dean (Walker) proposes a bet which the illustrious school president can't pass up: Dean will hand-pick the geekiest girl in the school and within the time allotted, Zack must transform her into a mega-babe and make her more than eligible for the elite status of prom queen. The deal is on and within only two minutes of searching, the "scary and inaccessible" Laney Boggs (Cook) makes her appearance by falling flat on her face in the courtyard - Dean has found his guinea pig. From here, Prinze and Cook do the traditional and recycled theme of geek-to-goddess. Suspension of disbelief is a pre-requisite for this transformation - the pretty and petite Cook is hardly an ugly duckling by any standard, her luminous brown eyes and almost pixie-ish beauty a complete distraction, even when she is supposed to look mousy (tortoiseshell glasses, stringy hair, sloppy clothes, etc.). Prinze comes off humble and sweet even when he is trying to be suave and arrogant, but this doesn't ruin anything. We rather want to see him that way because we want to believe that he really does care about Laney and that his reputation is the last thing on his mind. Prinze does this remarkably well. Matthew Lillard of "Scream" fame is a riot as a fictitious Real World cast member Brock Landers, a character that is obviously modeled from the obnoxious and insensitive Puck from Real World San Francisco. Of course, he's a lot more likeable because his character is a complete farce and Lillard almost steals the show. Almost unbearable is Paul Walker as Dean Sampson, the narcissistic jock who places the bet with Zack and manipulates it in his favor. Walker's delivery is so forced and obtuse that one would believe that is truly HIS nature and not just his character. Jodi Lyn O'Keefe is a comedic queen as the vacuous Taylor Vaughn, and Kieran Culkin and Eldin Ratliff are again part of the same cast list (The Mighty) but this time as Laney's younger brother Simon and her best friend Jesse, respectively. If you watch closely during a particular lunchroom scene, you will see Prinze's fiancé and "Buffy" TV star Sarah Michelle Gellar make a brief cameo.

"She's All That" borrows a lot of old themes but still remains fresh because of its enthusiastic cast and an above average script. If teen fluff is your fave, direct yourselves towards cookie-cutter flicks like "Down To You", "Ten Things I Hate About You", "Can't Hardly Wait" and the all-time classic "Clueless". If you want some BIG laughs, rent "American Pie" and watch for its sequel, due out August 10th. Lastly, if you really want to see Prinze show off his acting gams, rent "The House of Yes".

Rating:
Summary: haven't we seen this before?
Review: so maybe i'm just getting cynical, but i'm kind of tired of seeing a movie where an obviously beautiful girl is made to look extremely plain, just so that we can all act supprised when they make her look good again. but then again, this is a teen comedy romance so maybe i'm expecting too much. i did laugh several times and i thought that several scenes were really well written and performed. freddie isn't exactly award material just yet, but i think he's a decent actor and rachael can be very endearing so i found myself overlooking the cliche's of high school life and a rediculous prom scene the likes of which i don't think has ever actually been witnessed in real life. if you just want to have fun with some friends this could be a decent movie to watch just to feel good about the world, just don't go looking for anything too deep (although the performance art scene was rather...moving)

Rating:
Summary: In this movie there is a scene that everybody should watch!
Review: Well, here I am, writing a review on a teen movie. Usually, I do not take teen romantic comedies too seriously; the characters are not mature enough to make me actually believe that their romance will end up with a wedding. The mature viewer watches this kind of flicks with one idea in mind: "Yeah, right... these two guys are just going through a chemical and purely emotional reaction, have no clue whatsoever of the kinds of commitments that a true relationship requires, and finally... their relationship will not survive the four years of college..."

So, why am I writing a review on this one? Basically, one reason: I liked the character of Laney Boggs; she was really sweet and feminine, a characteristic that is kind of latent in today's women.

There is one scene that I would watch over and over in this movie: the scene when she walks down the stairs after her amazing makeover. No only is she gorgeus (that goes without saying), but the whole scene is the epitome of femininity. Look at the grace with which she walks down the steps, look at the expression on her face when she turns towards Zach. Her eyes seem to ask: "Am I beautiful enough? Will he like me?" Look at the pure, sweet, and humble expression in those eyes... Man, where are women like this today? Where do they hide?

And what about the background song that accompanies that scene? "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer is perfect for that moment (and for the movie in general) because its carefree melody reminds you of those lighthearted times of high school.

As for the rest of the movie, it is the typical teen flick, enjoyable and a bit unrealistic... but who looks for realism in a movie anyway?

Rating:
Summary: What? This is all that? I'm the king of the leprachuans
Review: This movie [was bad] big time. It was totally stupid, a collection of teenage sterotypes. Like for instance the black kids were always the peace makers. Were the film makers afraid of being called rasict? Rachel Leigh Cook was a good actress, Freddie Prinze was a good actor, the girl who played taylor was horrible. She is going to end up like the guy who played buffalo bill in the silence of the lambs. The movie was kind of sad becasue not only was Laney changed into one of the regular kids, she stopped being Laney. It jaded me , i tell ya, it jaded me.

Rating:
Summary: Real masterpiece
Review: This movie has many features of high art. Indeed it is a specimen of such. Robert Iscove, director, knows how to make a great synthesis of feelings and conceptions. The most difficult problem for an artist in wide sense of a term is to represent not only characters and events, but also ideas, make them visible. Iscove certainly knows the way. In "She is all that" at first we see a story of a boy (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and a girl (Rachael Leigh Cook), watch the development of their characters towards each other. The story is both realistic and funny, social and ironical. Then we notice the conceptual background. Iscove plays with the oppositions "real - illusory", "art - life". His opinion seems to be that from the one point of view art is the imperfect imitation of life and as such has some illusory, unreal aspects. But from the other point of view life itself can be understood as a form of art. The life of such a kind is represented by the art of performance. Life as performance is a creative life, when we like the fact that we have not answers to all our questions. If we think that everything is clear to us then we live an ideal life, not for real, without feelings (as they, as Robert Iscove seems to believe, are more real than all-explaining conceptions of our reason and understanding) and love. All these well-known and, by the way, quite plausible ideas are brilliantly implemented in the body of the movie. We see a lot of examples of "mimetic" art - such as excerpts from an idiotic film "Real world" (of course it is not real film) and so on. We are presented with many photos and drawings and we see how they interact with real people and sometimes literally pass over to them and vice versa. We also see finest connections between scenes, when, for example, a photo of a trees at the end of a scene changes with the real trees of the same species at the beginning of the next scene. This movie is overwhelmed with the interesting details and at the same time has strong and perfect composition. As for latter, so not to say too much I just want to mention, that the "ideal boy" Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) turns into real man when he incidentally happens to be in need to make performance in theatre. This is a culmination of the movie. And this theme pass over to the final scene of the movie. It should be noted that final scenes in Robert Iscove's films - I mean also his outstanding movie "Boys and Girls" (2000) - are simply amazing. He manages to focus in them all the conceptual and plot threads of his films. For instance, in "Boys and Girls" "boy" (again Fr. Prinze Jr. ) and "girl" (Claire Forlani) in a final scene simply fly away from abstractions, which held them as "seat-belts" during all the story. Here, in "She is all that" the final scene is an ironical act of performance and real expression of love, as well as the summary of the main characters. I should only add that "She is all that" gives us not only much mental food for thinking over - which, as Immanuel Kant had proved already 200 years ago, is the the criterion of masterpiece - but also provides a great performance (indeed it would be strange if it does not). Rachael Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Jr. do their best, they act very realistic, creative and fresh, as well as others. And final remark - If you do not like this movie, just watch it again.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie Bad DVD
Review: Okay, I just want to start off saying the movie is excellent that is not the reason I rated it with 2 stars, the reason is the DVD! No features, only a music video (great video). Some people on other websites have said this DVD has only 2.0 channel surround sound, even though the case says 5.1, I didn't really noticed because I saw this DVD two years ago. The movie is a really cute, funny and definitely a date movie for sure. The picture quality is good on the DVD. By the way there are two versions of the music video out there the "She's All That" version and the "Dawson's Creek" version, the video is of "Kiss Me" by 6pence none the Richer (great band), the difference is that the She's All That video has the cast from the movie in it, the "'Creek" version has footage from the TV show. Great movie though buy it instantly. One note about the sound Disney re-released the DVD with 5.1 YEA!

Movie Grade: A+, Picture: A+, Sound: C+ (2.0 version), A+ (5.1), Extras: D

Rating:
Summary: She's all not!
Review: Stung when his bombshell girlfriend abruptly dumps him for a TV celebrity, big man on campus Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr) wagers with a classmate he can quickly turn any girl...even the school's biggest geek, Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook)... into the prom queen! He wasn't,however,betting on falling in love! After an amazing makeover, Laney is transformed from nobody to knockout...but when she learns of Zack's deception, it could ruin any chance he had with his newfound dream gilr!