If you had the chance to do high school over again, what would you do differently? The idea of getting a second chance to live through a painful period is the premise that's wasted in Never Been Kissed, an inoffensive, at times mildly amusing comedy starring Drew Barrymore.

She plays Josie Gellar, a 25-year old copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times (for once, a movie actually uses the name of a real newspaper), who gets her big shot at reporting when she's sent by her publisher (Gary Marshall, who's acting is as bad as his directing) undercover as a high school student to write an expose on teens in the late-90s. But going back isn't so easy for Josie, who was the class nerd the first time around. In flashbacks, we see how "Josie Grossy" was tormented; her ultimate embarrassment: being asked to the school prom by the most popular guy in school hunk as a joke. The experience has so traumatized her that she's retreated from the world of dating altogether, instead protecting herself from potential failure by convincing herself she's waiting for her knight in shining armor to come along. So far, so good.

But when Josie heads to class, all originality and quality writing heads out the door. We get the same high school retread we've seen in countless other movies. This is one of those films where the entire senior class seems to consist of only six people who are somehow at the center of every single school activity.

Josie falls for her English lit teacher (for a change, could we see somebody fall madly in love with their Algebra teacher?) but is unable to let him know that dating her would actually be legal! In class they even study Shakespeare's lover-in-disguise farce, As You Like It, simply to add unnecessary symbolism. At the same time, Josie befriends a nerd, Leelee Sobieski (looking so much like a young Helen Hunt that somebody better cast her as Hunt's daughter, quick), then abandons her when she gets a chance to join the popular clique.

As if the movie isn't unrealistic enough up to this point, director Raja Gosnell (maker of the classic, Home Alone 3) asks us to believe that a newspaper would set-up high tech, Truman Show-style video surveillance to track Josie's every encounter. If they're going to such lengths, wouldn't they turn Josie's story into a documentary film rather than a newspaper article? The device is pointless and only adds another negative to the film.

On the bright side, David Arquette has some funny moments as Josie's 27-year old brother, who joins her in school, therefore getting the chance to relive his days as a star baseball player. The film moves along quickly toward its predictable ending and everyone learns the old Breakfast Club lesson about respecting each other and Josie reminds us all that as bad, or as good, as high school can be, the slate is wiped clean when it ends after four years.

Barrymore, for all her wildness in real life, once again shows a knack for playing innocent cuties. Never Been Kissed is recommended as a light, feel-kinda-good date movie. But it's one you'll forget before the credits even start to roll.

(c) Copyright 1999