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Final Grade: B

Based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, She’s the Man is a teen flick that older audience members can enjoy too.

The Film:
She’s the Man is like the many cross dressing films before it, where girls dress up like guys or guys dress up like girls in order to win some contest and predictably fall in love while participating in the farce e.g. Just One of the Guys and White Chicks. However, She’s the Man also loosely follows Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night using the same characters and town names but put in a modern adolescent setting. The ‘contest’ in this film though is a soccer match.

Viola (Amanda Bynes) an athletic and popular teen is outraged when her school’s female soccer team is cut from the season’s calendar. She then tries to try out for the boy’s soccer team but is laughed at by the coach and even her goalie boyfriend. Infuriated she does what anyone in her position would do…she dumps her boyfriend, dresses up like her brother Sebastian, and enrolls at the competing high school in order to prove that she can make the soccer team. All this while pretending to be a guy. Duh! She then hopes to beat her ex-boyfriend and former school during the prep school’s first season match against each other. Her brother Sebastian meanwhile, is in London for two weeks with his band and has no idea that his sister is pretending to be him.

Viola is forced to act like a man in ways other than just dressing and talking like one. As a result, she witnesses crude behavior and endures some embarrassing moments while trying to fit in with the male soccer team and roommates. She also tries to educate her roommate on how to win over the opposite sex but soon falls for him herself but of course being in drag doesn’t help her case much.

Overall the film is quirky, funny, and enjoyable. Amanda Bynes is very likeable comparable to most of her TV and film appearances and carries the film nicely as both a boy and a girl. The soccer action shots are quite impressive too. A bit more explanation and clarity is needed in the beginning of the film though since it was hard to tell if the students were in college or boarding school and that Viola is a fraternal twin to her brother Sebastian.

The Upside:
A charming and refreshingly cute teen comedy that provides genuine laughs and has a great leading star and attractive cast.
The Downside:
Some unrealistic scenes, unclear beginning, and predictable.
On the Side:
The Mary Tyler Moore theme song “Love is All Around” plays during the film, but is updated in the recording by The Tea Queens.

Film Stats:
Release Date: March 17, 2006
Starring: Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey
Directed by: Andy Frickman
Writing Credits: Ewan Leslie (story), Karen McCullah Lutz (screenplay), William Shakespeare (play Twelfth Night)
Run Time: 105 min
Rating: PG-13
USA Box Office: $20 Million

Click here to read more reviews by Tara Settembre.

Technorati: Movie, Film, Hollywood, Shakespeare, Comedy, Romantic, Amanda Bynes