She’s All That

She’s All That comes out of the formulaic teenage romantic comedy film genre, the same one that probably originated with Frankie and Annette movies 35 years ago. Instead of featuring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, you now have the Johnny and Buffy-come-lately who regularly appear on a popular WB or Fox Network show. Instead of Bob Cummings or Harvey Lembeck, you now have Kevin Pollak and Tim Matheson playing the buffoonish father types.

Compared to its brain dead predecesors Can’t Hardly Wait, Dead Man on Campus, and the recent Varsity Blues, She’s All That shows flashes of originality. In other words, the movie has a brain that’s alive and well.

The storyline is one we’ve all seen time and time again. Borrowing heavily from "Pygmalion," it’s the typical "ugly duckling gets a makeover and winds up with the class hunk" formula. The setting is a posh Southern California high school.

Class hunk Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) has been dumped by the snooty Taylor Vaughan (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) for the self-centered Brock (Matthew Lilliard), a reporter on television’s "Real World." Zack and his snake of a friend, Dean (Paul Walker), make a bet that Zack can’t take another girl to the senior prom and make her the prom queen. Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook of "Dawson’s Creek"), a frumpy art student, is selected for their cruel game.

No surprise here: Laney gets a makeover and turns into a babe-and-a-half. Zack realizes what a manipulative jerk he is, and Taylor returns for the predictable standoff with Laney for his affections.

Separating the wheat from the chaff, She’s All That has several bright moments that should make it an enjoyable experience for the Friday and Saturday night movie crowd. There is, however, one gross out scene borrowed from There’s Something About Mary that belongs in the dumpster.