Okay, here's the deal. I don't know if it was where I lived, or just that I didn't know any better, but I really had a good time in high school. I dismissed my preppy brethren and stuck with my boots and jeans. I smoked in the parking lot with the Greasers and Motorheads, but I did it with Honors English textbooks under my arm. I was always skirtin' trouble, but never got caught bad enough to warrant suspension. Everyone either liked me or hated me, and I went through four years with my Ray-Bans in place, my hair shaggy, and did my own thing.
But, by doing so, I also got to see just how the cliques treated one another. An observer, on the inside, bearing witness to the silliness and stupidity of others. A voice of common sense, so to speak, in the madness. And, folks, let me be the first to tell you, it's a dog-eat-dog world in those hallowed halls, and, for some, it's like being forced to wear Milk-Bone underwear. Don't ever think that it's easy finding your niche in school. Hey, always remember it took Marcia Brady joining every club in Fillmore High to find that out.
Question is, if you had it to do all over again, knowing what you know now, would you do it any differently? Drew Barrymore's new movie, Never Been Kissed, plops that entree on a plate and cuts into it quick. And, just between you and me, the question never gets answered the way you want it to, but it still makes for a pretty good movie.
Drew plays Josie Gellar, a copy editor for a Chicago newspaper. Her life is orderly to the point of sterile, and she's respected for the way she does her job. Josie wants to be a reporter, though, and is dying to get into the trenches and out of the office. She gets an assignment by her big boss (played in a great cameo by director Garry Marshall) to infiltrate a high school and get the story on today's kids. Problem is, Josie was never really one of the "in" crowd in high school. Who are we kidding here? She was horrid in high school! Braces, greasy hair, clumsy, and known as "Josie Grossie" in her day. Her brother Rob (David Arquette) was the cool one. Josie was, at best, a wanna-be.
She immediately falls in with the poor nerdy brainy group, and she's happy with that, especially after bombing out big time with the popular folks. But her editor doesn't want to hear about math tournaments and study sessions. He wants what sells, sex, scandals, yadda, yadda, yadda...So, in order to help Josie get in with the right group, Rob also infiltrates the school and starts spreading the word about Josie. Suddenly, at Rob's word, she's in, where she always wanted to be. But, as she slowly learns, it ain't always all beer and Skittles, especially when you are being pressured to ignore whom you really are in order to be "in."
There's a heap to really like about this movie. Miss Drew, especially. She cements herself back into a full leading-role status here. She plays the comedy well, and her incredibly expressive eyes are mirrors to the sadness in a dramatic moment. At times, she can play the shy little girl that we knew from E.T., and other times, she proves her talent as an actress. She is not as impressive as she was in Ever After, but, this is not a film of regality or hidden grace, it's about learning to fit in, and Drew portrays that like a champ. Quick note, though -- Drew, honey, get a coach on physical comedy...your pratfalls need work badly. I'm continually impressed with her latest parade of films. It's hard to imagine that she was almost "gone" from the business, so to speak, until she decided to let herself get sliced and diced at the beginning of Scream. Who knows where a good stabbing can lead you in Hollywood, huh?
Speaking of Scream, this country doctor's even more pleased to report that David Arquette is finally grabbing the brass ring o' stardom. His quirky appeal is the saving glory of this film, even though it doesn't really need any. His character, Rob, is a failed baseball player who sees this "return" to high school as one last chance to meet his potential as a pro prospect. Helping Josie is almost an afterthought. But, through the course of the film, Rob also gets the chance to expand in character, something few supporting characters get to do. Arquette makes the most of these prime moments, some funny, some serious, and he gets to display his talent ten times better than he did playing goofy Deputy Dewey.
Another quick aside here -- in a smaller, but important, supporting role, as Aldys, the brainy girl who first befriends Josie, is an actress named Leelee Sobieski. This girl is a find and a half, and is soon to be seen in a May TV sweeps race playing the lead in a big miniseries about Joan of Arc. When you first see this girl, you'll literally be slapped in the face by the resemblance to Helen Hunt. She looks exactly like Helen Hunt in almost every way. If there are any directors/producers/writers out there looking to put a project together, find a vehicle with a older sister/younger sister theme, and put Leelee and Helen in it. If these two are not genetically linked, it's positively a miracle. She can hold her own onscreen, so don't let that worry you.
Far be it from me to be a pollyanna, I have one big complaint with this movie though. There's a stinky subplot here that involves Josie slowly falling for a Shakespeare teacher. I understand fully that it's one of those screenwriting rules, ya gots to have your subplot, but good lord, must writers Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein treat it like an afterthought? The whole recurring theme in the movie is Josie's desire to finally "be kissed, the way that lets you know something special is happening," or words to that effect. If you steer a movie like that, stir in the love story smoothly, please. Don't let the film go on for fifteen minutes, and then hock up a spark between Josie and the teacher, spit it aside and flip right back to the battle between popular and not popular. It may be a minor thing, but it's distracting as all get out, and it's something that the film's director, Raja Gosnell (Nine Months), should've picked up on early.
That being said, you can feel free to go see this thing knowing you'll have fun. Drew is good, David is great, and, one scene in particular, with SNL's Molly Shannon doing a sex lecture at the school is too funny to even describe. And, yes, you'll feel an occasional pang of the memory bell when certain things occur. There's not a one of us that didn't suffer a bit of humiliation in high school, for whatever reason. Some of the mental cruelty shown between the students will strike close to home for almost everyone. Don't take it as a message, just a reminder of how life was and how far you've come since. Or how far you have to go.
Image copyright 20th Century Fox.
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in for observation