Never Been Kissed Review

by Akiva Gottlieb (akiva AT excite DOT com)
April 15th, 1999
Never Been Kissed **1/2

rated PG-13

starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Leelee Sobieski

written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein
directed by Raja Gosnell

From E.T. to THE WEDDING SINGER, Drew Barrymore always seems to shine. That is probably the main reason why she was chosen to play the lead role in Raja Gosnell's NEVER BEEN KISSED. Barrymore turns in a fine comic performance and steals the show from a spectacular supporting cast, proving that she deserves to play the protagonist more often. It's too bad that Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein couldn't give her a better script to work with, because NEVER BEEN KISSED ends up playing out as nothing more than contrived fun

Barrymore plays Josie Geller, a copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times who is picked to do her first piece as a reporter. She must go back to high school and write a story about any specific problem she finds within it. But her brother, Rob(David Arquette), reminds her of just how bad her high school years were. She wore huge braces, never washed her hair, was asked out to the prom as a joke, and was called "Josie Grossie." But she still decides to give high school a second shot. But instead of hanging out with the kids who cause trouble worth writing about, she befriends a nerdy mathematician(Leelee Sobieski) and crushes on her English teacher(Michael Vartan). When her boss(John C. Reilly) demands that she somehow become popular so that she can get her story, her brother enrolls in the school, becomes popular in a day, and starts to hint to people that Josie does have a cooler side.

NEVER BEEN KISSED has some very funny scenes(the prom theme is "Great Couples in History" and two people dress up as the Doctor and Gonzo from FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS), but the story seems forced, as if a Fox executive demanded that the writers find some way to combine Drew Barrymore with high school, so that everyone in the world will want to see it. As I wrote earlier, Barrymore makes a great leading lady, and makes it seem that the top-notch supporting cast was wasted. But even a charming Drew can't change the fact that NEVER BEEN KISSED is predictable and insignificant. But if you end up seeing the film, stay for the credits, where every actor and crew member's high school photo is shown.

a review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic
[email protected]
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/film
watch me on TBS' "Dinner And A Movie" May 21, 8:05pm EST

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