Never Been Kissed Review
by DeWyNGaLe (dewyngale AT aol DOT com)April 1st, 1999
NEVER BEEN KISSED by DeWyNGaLe Rating: A
http://members.aol.com/DeWyNGaLe
Drew Barrymore has come a long, long way in her life. Her parents were very famous actors, and they were well known for classic movies. At first, Drew Barrymore seemed like she wasn't going to go anywhere with her career in acting. In my opinion, her breakthrough movie was 1996's Scream (A+), where she played a small role, but also a great role. Next Drew went on to co star with Adam Sandler in 1998's the Wedding Singer (B+), where she was good but didn't get the chance to show off her skills. Later on in 1998, with Ever After (A-), Drew was almost able to carry the movie by herself, but not without help from Angelica Huston. Now, in Never Been Kissed, Drew has gotten the opportunity to show off her stuff. After coming through a hard childhood, Drew has finally gotten the title of "great actress" in my opinion.
In Never Been Kissed, Drew stars as Josie Gellar, a journalist at the Chicago Sun Times. At the Chicago Sun Times, things are a little slow, and they need a really good story. Josie is picked to do the story, and she is now a reporter. The task is a hard but fun one- Josie must enroll in high school to study today's teenagers and schools in America. There is only one pressure holding Josie back from the job. When Josie was in high school, she was the class outcast, and she had the nickname "Josie Grossie." She barely had any friends at all, but she held on to become successful after high school.
Josie decides to take her chances. On the first day of school, everything goes horrible. She makes a fool of herself in front of everyone, including the popular people who remind her of some people back when she was in high school. Everyone finds her to be very strange the first day, so she must try harder to be a teen again. Josie's brother Rob, played by David Arquette, is a worker at the Tiki Post, a place for office supplies. He realizes that this story is very important to her, and he must help her out. He enrolls in high school to help Josie, and also plans to fulfil his dreams of playing baseball in college. Rob becomes popular instantly, and he knows that if he puts the good word in for Josie, they will accept her as well.
Never Been Kissed may not highly original, but Drew Barrymore, who also produces the film, did such a wonderful job as Josie Gellar. She created one of the most likable characters I have ever seen in a movie. Drew is funny as Josie, and is also very emotional and realistic. On the other hand, Kirsten, Gibby, and Kristen, who are the mean, popular girls played by Jessica Alba, Jordan Ladd, and Marley Shelton do a good job as well, but characters are very unlikable. A performance which was surprisingly strong was that of Leelee Sobieski's as Aldys, a girl who becomes friends with Josie at the high school.
In many films today, sub-plots are what ruin many of them. That's not the case in Never Been Kissed. There are quite a few sub-plots containing plots similar to Message In A Bottle, EDTV, and even Carrie. Molly Shannon, who is involved in one of the sub-plots, is very funny as Anita, a worker at the Chicago Sun Times.
On the trailers, it looked like Never Been Kissed would be a laugh riot, but it was so much more than that. It was very funny, but also inspirational, sad, and meaningful. There are so many unexpected elements in the movie, and that's what makes it fun all the way through. The scenes that were supposed to make you laugh made you crack up, and the scenes that were supposed to make you think made you really think. It is very rare a film does either one of these, but Never Been Kissed certainly succeeded.
The Bottom Line- There's something about "Drew" in this one.
More on 'Never Been Kissed'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
