Cast:

Zack Siler - Freddie Prinze Jr.  (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The House of Yes)

Laney Boggs - Rachael Leigh Cook (The Babysitters Club, Tom and Huck, The House of Yes )

Mackenzie Siler - Anna Paquin (Fly Away Home, The Piano)

Dean Sampson - Paul Walker (Pleasantville, Meet The Deedles, Varsity Blues)

Brock Hudson - Matthew Lillard (Scream)

Laney's Father - Kevin Pollak (Usual Suspects, A Few Good Men, House Arrest)

Director: Robert Iscove

Previews:  Message In A Bottle, Outside Providence

Since I started writing reviews over a year ago, my perspective on them has changed. I used to have fun and enjoy escaping into another world for a couple of hours. I could let my brain go and relax. Lately, however, I've become more critical, more analytical.   Not every movie is going to be of Oscar potential. Some movies are just made to be fun. If they make a point on the way to that fun, then that’s an added bonus.  

"She's All That" doesn't explore any new boundaries whatsoever, and consequently it uses every cliché' in the book. I knew exactly where it was going and how it was going to get there, but you know what? I didn't care. This movie has a pure charm and innocence.  When I left the theater,  I knew that I hadn't seen anything new, exciting, award worthy or even groundbreaking. Yet, I also did not feel like I'd wasted my time either. I left with a smile and a decent feeling about what I'd just seen.

The story takes its premise from Pygmalion/My Fair Lady, with a dash of Can't Buy Me Love thrown in for modern flavor. A popular jock is dumped by his girlfriend for a "Real World" cast member (Matthew Lillard, wonderfully over-the-top again.) He agrees to an egotistical wager that he can turn any girl in school into the prom queen. It is a simple enough premise that becomes complicated by the usual external influences. Part of this movie’s charm comes from the performances. Prinze is eye candy, with a heart. He shows a bit more range than his summer slasher duet, and is ultimately watchable. . Other supporting shines come from The Mighty's Kieran Culkin as Cook's protective, but obnoxious, little brother and  Anna Paquin, restrained and nearly unrecognizable (for me at least) as Prinze's sister. But the gold star for performances here goes to Cook. A relative unknown, Cook shines here, taking a simple role and filling it full of the range of emotions experienced by those who suddenly find themselves fitting in, after a life of being a loner. She gives a better performance than a movie deserves and also gives millions of teens, and adults, a character to relate to.

Nothing in this movie is hidden, but there are glints of promise and hope that shine through. There are flashes of serious teenage emotional issues here. The difficulty of fitting in, and keeping up, while still trying to remain true to yourself. Still, most of these moments are few and far between. There's also a hilarious set of Jeopardy answers from Pollak,  a Real World mockery of the storyline, and some "super-sizing" of falafel balls that flirt with originality. But director Robert Iscove seems afraid to follow through on it. What he gives us works, but it could've worked better. The 90’s are still searching to recreate that John Hughes magic and aura of the 80’s. This is a step in the right direction though, but keep walking. This one's a matinee, or a cable viewing

($$1/2 of $$$$)

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