Zach Siler is the envy of his peers, but that envy turns to pity fast. His girlfriend Taylor leaves him for Brock Hudson, the sleazy reality-TV star, and Zach’s popularity drops hard. Desperate to get it back, he takes a bet from his friend Dean Sampson: he has six weeks to win over Laney Boggs, the nerdy outcast, and make her prom queen. It sounds easy on paper. It plays out as a slow-motion disaster.
Trailer, via YouTube Movies.
Zach and Laney
Freddie Prinze Jr. plays Zach with a smirk that never quite lands. He is supposed to be charming, but his charm reads as smug, and the audience never feels sorry for him when things fall apart. Rachael Leigh Cook plays Laney as a wallflower who refuses to crack, and she is the better half of the equation. Their scenes together are the film’s only moments that feel alive.
Paul Walker plays Dean Sampson as the sidekick who sets the whole thing in motion, and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe plays Taylor as the ex-girlfriend who wants to ruin the plan. Kevin Pollak plays Wayne Boggs, Laney’s father, and Anna Paquin plays Mackenzie Siler, Zach’s younger sister. Matthew Lillard plays Brock Hudson, the man who took Taylor away. Elden Henson plays Jesse Jackson, and Gabrielle Union plays Katie. Usher plays the campus DJ, and Lil’ Kim plays Alex.
The cast is full of talent. The film does not know what to do with any of it.
What Went Wrong
The problem is the script. The bet is set up as a joke, and the film treats it as a joke for the whole runtime. Zach’s plan is to pretend to care about Laney, and the film pretends that pretending to care is enough. There is no arc, no growth, no reason for anyone to change except for the sake of winning. The film is built on a trick, and the trick is revealed halfway through, leaving the second half to coast on a setup that stopped working hours ago.
The film also leans on the audience to root for a guy who does not deserve it. Zach spends the whole picture acting like he is doing Laney a favor, and the film never questions that impulse. It is a strange choice for a comedy about popularity, and it makes the ending feel hollow.
A Cast Worth Watching
The film is at its best when it stops trying to be clever and lets its cast do the work. Kieran Culkin plays Simon Boggs, Laney’s younger brother, and he is the funniest performer in the whole thing. Dulé Hill, Gabrielle Union, and Anna Paquin all get small roles, and they all get more than the script gives them.
The film’s biggest success is the song “Kiss Me,” which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top 10 for 16 weeks. The song is better than the movie it appears in.
Ranking the Elements
- The cast, especially Rachael Leigh Cook and Kieran Culkin.
- The “Kiss Me” soundtrack.
- The setup, while it lasts.
- The middle stretch, where the film loses its footing.
- The ending, which tries to tie everything up without earning it.
The film is not terrible, but it is thin. It has moments of genuine charm, and it has a cast that deserves better material. It is a film that knows how to dress up a bad idea with good faces. It is not a film that knows how to fix a bad idea.
“She’s All That” is a relic of a simpler era of teen comedies, and it shows. It is a film that trades intelligence for a smile, and it is a film that thinks that is enough. It is not.
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