Rating: Summary: Drive Me Happy Review: The drama of adolescence! The turmoil of high school! There is nothing like a perky film to encapsulate the teenage experience, filled with clichés, popularity contests and the traditional happy ending involving a school dance, where the camera pans back just as the couple shares a sweet kiss. As a fan of John Hughes film, I'm always willing to give teen-comedies a try. Out of all the recent efforts, "Drive me Crazy" is by far my favorite. Well written with witty dialogue and a quick pace, the film struggles with a traditional teen film equation: Popular Girl has a dilemma and turns to Less-Than Popular Reject Guy to help her get out of her jam. After a series of comic episodes and a near tragedy (e.g. she thinks he likes someone else), the couple is united and true love realized. This film is a definite child of earlier efforts like "Can't Buy Me Love" (great film, actually). What I think sets this one apart? Melissa Joan Hart is completely believable as the popular girl with the heart of gold. The supporting cast is great- Chase (Adrian Grenier) has a cast of friends the likes of which haven't been seen since John Cusack appeared in "Sixteen Candles". The soundtrack is upbeat (you can't do better than the Donnas!), and it leaves you with that cornball, happy feeling as the final credits roll. Great work of cinema? Winner of the Venice Film Festival? Probably not, but if you're in the mood for something deliciously fluffy, you could definitely do worse.
Rating: Summary: Dumb title, good movie Review: Hardly a waste of time, DRIVE ME CRAZY isn't quite the movie it was marketed to be. Though presented as a romantic comedy, this is a film essentially about cliques, and the almost tribal warfare that ensues between them. More, it's about stepping outside the familiar and seeing what else there is to life. To be sure you won't be magically transported by this film to some greater understanding of high school life. But it does have the capacity to make you remember what it feels like to be in (a predominantly white, suburban American) high school. Is it funny? Well, it's no AMERICAN PIE. There are moments of humor, but you won't be bustin' a gut, here. It is, however, absolutely fun. This is definitely a movie for those nights where you don't want to be challenged, but you equally don't want to be insulted by blatant stereotype. Oh, yes, it IS a love story. But it's the social commentary and the characters' felt angst along the way that makes you keep watching. The acting in almost every case contributes greatly to this need to stay tuned. Others have commented that Melissa Joan Hart is laughable here, but I don't see that. She perfectly captures a girl on the cool side of preppy. If there's anything unsatisfying here, it's that the tension which builds between the two leads never sees real resolution. The pre-ordained ending simply happens. Though that ending makes sense, we're missing about one scene of confrontation in which that resolution can be worked out. Also, unlike AMERICAN PIE which is very clearly told from the perspective of teenagers, this film throughout feels as though it's made by adults trying to recreate their youths. This makes the film somewhat purer and less offensive than AMERICAN PIE, but it does take a great deal of that frenetic, sexual 'edge' off. These qualifications aside, DRIVE ME CRAZY is still worth a look, and maybe even a ponder or two. [DVD NOTES: There's really nothing much extra on the DVD. Unless you just really like adding indiscriminately to your DVD collection, you should probably save a few dollars and get it on VHS.]
Rating: Summary: A Harmless Comedy Review: Hart seems to go to a highschool thats like ridiculously clean, the weather is awesome and even the geeks and spazzes are kinda cool. This movie won't hurt your brain cells, but it won't challenge them either. As teen romances go its ok. Melissa Joan Hart won't win any oscars for her riveting performance but she is the glue that holds this movie together.
Rating: Summary: FINALLY A TEEN FILM THAT DEPICTS HIGH SCHOOOL AS IT IS. Review: Drive me Crazy on the surface is portrayed as a shallow,run-of-the-mill, simplistic movie.I also thought it would be this. But instead it is an eyopening web of complex emotions. Some of the beginning parts are questionable though (Chase goes from grunge-boy, to popular boyfriend in about 2 seconds with little instant remorse, or thought), but as the movie unfolds, it becomes something more. This is largely in part of the simple, yet true to the heart performances of the two leads, Adrian Grenier, who delicately portrays a teenager somewhere between a hurt child, and a noncomformist anti-hero, and Melissa Joan Hart believeably portraying a perky popular girl who has a slow change of heart about who she is and where she stands. As supporting characters ''Designated Dave'' is strongly played, showing acore of insecurity and hurt. BUt overall what makes the film worth seeing is the general feel of it. The simple, yet realistically portrayed wounds of hurt, insecurity, and inferiority that make the ''uncool'' kids try to be what they aren't. High school is finally realistically portrayed as a Nazi-like environment. As brutal as it seems, it really is. People get hurt, and suffer and are dehumanized in what is no less than a Nazi following of kids degrading each other. Hopefully other filmmakers will take the hint and start creating movies that are more true to life, instead of the upper-cut, simplistic movies they currently process.
Rating: Summary: Teenage crushes again! Review: Of course the characters are in high school, but that is what made the movie good. Similar to Can't Buy Me Love, where the popular girl transforms the geeky guy and introduces him to the "in crowd". His motive for giving in was slightly different than Can't Buy Me Love, but it moved in the same direction. His geeky friends were left behind for his new social life and in the end their ultimate plan backfires when they realize they have fallen for each other. Of course telling you how it ends doesn't spoil anything, since this movie was predictable, but it was fun watching them prograss to that point. If you like those cheesy, teeny bop movies, with high school crushes, jocks, popular kids and the nerds, then you'll love this movie. I did feel that Melissa Joan Hart has progressed beyond this type of moive and should move on to more adult plots and issues.
Rating: Summary: DRIVE ME INSANE!!!! Review: What a useless pile of dog [doo]! The acting was bad, the music [is bad], and the script was just pathetic! I got so freakin BORED when I had to sit through this whole mess of events that's a complete waste of time. Luckily though, I had only rented it but even renting is bad enough! Melissa Joan Hart should have stayed with Nickelodeon because that was the only place for bad acting. (little kids can't tell bad acting from good unfortunately!) Another problem from this movie that REALLY offended me was that it is very sexist! The women always seem to be taking advantage of the men by either setting them up or bribing them into doing something stupid for them in order for them to go out! These teen movies are so ...stupid altogether! HOLLYWOOD, please stop making them...
Rating: Summary: enjoyable to watch Review: This was a pretty good movie that had some meaning behind it- was pretty accurate with the cliches in high school and showed both sides of the outkast and the popular girls life. He wasnt really an outkast but rebellious and it did accuratly portray the groups and how they compared them with sheep and it was pretty funny. The movie wasnt brilliant- it is somewhat forgetable but the story was ok to watch. Melissa John Heart plays a preppy girl who gives a makeover to the school's rebellious guy to transform him into a preppy kid to make his ex girlfriend and her ex boyfriend jealous.( the guy was cute to begin with but they just made him into a prep)- Then they end up together at the end and thats about it. Like i said its enjoyable to watch but forgetable- Only reason i gave it 4 stars is because it is accurate portrayal of some cliches in high school and how they act. I would rent it before you decide to buy it unless you see it for a cheap price.
Rating: Summary: It's O.K. Review: I went to watch this movie just because Britney was singing the theme, and I've watched Sabrina a couple of times, the movie is good when you watch it for the first time, but after that it becames boring for a simple story and a bad chemistry between Hart and Geiner, the reason to see this is for Melissa, that's it.
Rating: Summary: despite being distracted by melissa joan hart's lazy eye... Review: ...several times throughout the movie (especially in the scene where chase agrees to her scheme and she is in bed), this is still one of my favorite 'new school' teen movies. as usual, the 'dorks' are not dorky at all (the one boy who plays dave is very cute and funny, in fact), the jocks are written to be as obnoxious and one-dimensional as possible, and the socially aware turn out to not be aware at all (plus the whole vivsection/cancer link is really poor, in my opinion, but whatever). despite all of this, and the incessent backstreet boys/britney spears/'n sync soundtrack, i still liked this movie. why? you may ask. the reason is simple: because i'm stupid. well, okay, maybe i'm just a sucker for a dependable plot line and a charismatic (anti-)protagonist lead.
Rating: Summary: Grenier and Hart make a great couple. Review: I liked the movie very much and have seen it more than a couple of times. Grenier's work is icredible and he's acting is supreme. Although the movie has several errors, especially in the art direction i think it deserves 4 stars because it tries to be different from all of the teen movies.
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