Never Been Kissed Review
by Eugene Novikov (eugene47 AT my-dejanews DOT com)April 1st, 1999
Never Been Kissed
Reviewed by Eugene Novikov
http://www.ultimate-movie.com/neverbeenkissed.html
Member: Online Film Critics Society
*** out of four
Starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Molly Shannon, Michael Vartan. Rated PG-13
The first line of Never Been Kissed is "You know how some movies have these dream sequences but they don't tell you it's a dream? Well, this is so not a dream." If you examine those two sentences closely, you'll notice that they don't really make sense. However, they made me sit up in my chair and really pay attention, because those two sentences when placed at the beginning of a film are somehow appealing, unusual, almost like a dream. This very well describes the movie that follows those words. Wasting no time, we are introduced to Josie Geller, a shy young copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times, who prides herself in her neatness and precision and who feels it necessary to correct everyone else's grammar usage errors. She's a young, small-time employee, who seems to be waiting for her big break as a reporter. That break comes at a company meeting where her boss (played with hilarious gusto by Garry Marshall) gives her an undercover assignment -- she is to enroll in high school and investigate what the cool people of the 90's like to do.
This is both delightful and depressing to Josie. She is overjoyed at her big opportunity as an undercover reporter. But high-school also brings back excruciating memories. She was the queen of geeks back then. The whole school would mock her shouting "Josie Grosie!". She was invited to the prom by the guy that she adored, only to be devastated when, on prom night, she finds out it was a joke and gets pummeled with raw eggs as she is standing outside her house in a dress waiting for her date.
So, you can imagine how it would be difficult for Josie to go back to all those memories and attempt to fit in among teenagers, again. But go to high-school she does, wearing a ridiculous outfit, being mocked, spit on and rejected. She has no success among the "in" crowd, which is her assignment, until her 23-year old cool brother (David Arquette) also enrolls in high school and literally tells everyone to like her.
The idea, as well as the film itself, is completely implausible. It is unconceivable that in this day and age, two twenty-year olds would be able to enroll in a high school, without having their age revealed or at least without generating some suspicion. It is also ridiculous that there could be stories in the Sun-Times telling about an undercover reporter at that high school, and not have anyone snoop around to find out who the person is. But in this particular film, it hardly seems to matter. You see, Never Been Kissed plays out almost like a surrealistic fantasy. Time flies when watching it, and one feels almost as if he is in a dream.
The movie is ridden with cliches, but since nothing we see on the screen seems real (in a good way), those cliches are there exclusively to make a point. And the film's point is a nostalgic one; it seems to be saying that people come and go, but school does not fundamentally change. The same kinds of people will be there time and again, and what really matters what breed you choose to fit into, what games you choose to play.
Drew Barrymore gives a charming performance in an interesting exploration of what might happen if a girl gets a second chance at being young. She has a big part in a little movie, making it twice as important for her to come through, and she does. We are with her character every step of the way, and we absorb and understand every dilemma that faces her.
Director Raja Gosnell, who made his directing debut almost two years ago, with the digestible Home Alone 3, completely triumphs with this graceful, entertaining, smart teen comedy/adult fantasy. It's not only funny, it's also profound, touching and relatively subtle. Never Been Kissed blows a glaring opportunity at the very end to really make its point heard, but I was too delighted with the last two hours to complain.
©1999 Eugene Novikov‰
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