She’s All That

Back to highschool again for a movie that is nothing but surprises. On its face one is tempted to roll one’s eyes at the entire scenario. The most popular boy in the school, bristling for having been dumped over spring break, makes an egotistical boast that he could make any girl in school the next prom queen simply by associating her with himself. This leads to a bet, shenanigans, a dramatic reveal, a fallout, and a reunion sealed with a kiss that rolls to credits. It’s as practiced and well worn as one would expect. With a paint-by-numbers plot this movie had every opportunity to fail miserably, yet it manages to be something quite charming and well executed despite the limitations imposed by its origins. 

One of the most apparent and inventive twists that this narrative has in store for its audience is the surprising character of Zack Siler(Prinze Jr.). With academic bonafides to go along with his athletic ability, the story walks carefully with his behavior lest, I presume, the callousness of his wager become a hurdle too high for him in search of reclaiming the audience’s affection. His tense relationship with his father, caused in the main by the latter’s rigorous expectations, gives a little color to his competitiveness with his friend Dean(Walker) and allows a sympathetic hue to what could easily fall into unlikeability. There are several other events throughout the story that reinforce this rehabilitation; the defense of and relationship with Laney’s(Cook) brother, the impromptu poetry performance, and Zack’s growing sincerity in his affection for Laney. All of these work together, along with Prinze’s natural charm, to smooth over what would otherwise be a rather rough edged character.

Laney Boggs herself too has a modicum of depth that is not usually reserved for such works. The sadness over the passing of her mother might perhaps be a bit rote, but her selective self confidence-showing itself when she’s perfectly willing to perform in support of someone else’s expressive vision but is prohibitively reserved in production of her own-is a recurrent theme. Though she is predictably shunned by Zack’s social circle, neither is she wholly embraced by her own as even the other art students seem to push her to the side (and in ways that are far crueler than anything Zack does in the film). She is quirky and adorable and, particularly with regard to her family, extremely mature clearly moved as she is into the role of matron of the family in the absence of her mother. She is quirky and witty and not without her own flaws being quite overeager in her low estimation of both Zack’s intentions and character(the fact that she is essentially right notwithstanding).  Here I must discuss, having seen it played upon a stage, what I consider to be a most improbable fiction…

This is meant to be the person that is so unpalatable that even the idea of her being the prom queen would be ridiculous on its face? Now, at the risk off revealing the true preponderance of my schoolyard crushes-as this is certainly not the first admission of this kind in the Archive- I certainly had an affinity for Rachel Leigh Cook since first seeing her as Becky in “Tom and Huck” some years earlier.

Autobiographical tangent aside, I cannot fathom, then or now, how slightly disheveled hair, horn rimmed glasses, baggy clothing, and make-up that was designed to give her skin a pale, almost sickly, look was meant to conjure the opinion the film seeks to create about Laney preceding her transformation later in the film. And they say Clark Kent’s disguise is unbelievable…Still, this obstacle of imagination overcome, the rest of the story runs as smoothly as one could ever hope. 

While it is certain that the movie could hardly have been this successful without the strength of its leads, there is something also to be said about the side characters. I won’t lie, it warms my heart anytime I see Psych alumni anywhere, but seeing that no fewer than four are here (Rachel Leigh Cook, Freddie Prinze Jr., Carlos Jacott, and…

Dule Hill) really warms my Psych-o heart. However, this only begins the list of wonderful people that populate this movie. Kevin Pollack, Keiran Culkan, Usher, Paul Walker, Anna Paquin, Gabrielle Union, Matthew Lillard, Elden Henson, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, and even a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo by Sarah Michelle Gellar combine to make this movie simply overflow with recognizable talent. Pollack plays a great absent minded, but sweet, father with a quite hilarious ability to get Jeopardy questions wrong, Culkan is a charged little brother type, and Paquin plays a chic but sympathetic sister to Zack. Even Paul Walker’s Dean, along with O’Keefe’s Taylor, take fun turns at traditional teen villainy. 

The final word is that while outwardly trite and predictable, there is that here which is well worth the time to not only visit, but revisit. There will of course be something extra for we who remember these clothes, these cars, and these tunes from our own adolescences, but plenty for any and all. And on top of all of this, a timeless song contributing to the tone of an era from a band with one of the greatest names in the history of popular music.