That was an excellent one.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This movie is 90s American culture distilled into an hour and a half. Its presentation of then contemporary society- an idealization of society that demonstrates the values of the mainstream. The problems of desire- in bucolic suburbia life finds a way to narrate itself its own minor strife to allow those in the era devoid to feel alive.

Here's one of the better teen comedies, I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. Starring some upcoming stars, some of them who sadly faded into obscurity, much the same way as the ones did from American Pie, my only regret, was I should of seen this film fifteen years early. Of course my reason for watching this, was for the late Paul Walker, who I must admit, didn't do a bad job here, playing a real a..hole, typically un Walker'ish. Although there are a few clichéd moments as in the progression of the story, I still found this really entertaining, the transformation, staircase scene, that was later mocked in Not Another Teen movie, another one. The unoriginal premise has popular jock, Zack, Freddie Prince Junior, dumped by queen of popularity/vaingloried stuck up/bitch, Taylor. Now Freddie is given a wager, by friend, Dean, a sort of meathead, to change a chosen dork Walker's girl of choice), nerd, geek, rah rah rah, into the prom queen. Plain Jane, Rachel Leigh Cook, is the transformed one, where Zack, of course falls in love with her, but a bets a bet. We know how the rest of the story plays out, but the film's smart script, adds a lot of funny touches, like Laney's after school hobby, an artist venting group. Too, is a reality show starring Taylor's new love, jock idiot (Matthew Lillard), a kind of Vincent Cassell looking guy, who in one scene, makes such an a.. of himself, it was even embarrassing, watching from my end. Check out his bedroom. Here's one 99 film you must really see, a light hearted teen comedy, you can watch a few times. It has some revenge too that I liked: consult Duval's new appearance, and Walker's deafened ears. I like Freddie Prince Junior too. He has a charisma, or magnetism about his presence, where I never really found him impressive as an actor, more someone who got lucky. Pollack is fun as Cook's pool installer father, while Animal House's Matheson, popping back on the screen as Zack's father, marked a nice return to the big screen. Don't knock this one.

King of high school Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is unceremoniously dumped by hot queen Taylor Vaughan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) for an idiot realty TV star (Matthew Lillard). While bragging about his prowess, he's challenged by his douche friend Dean Sampson (Paul Walker) to remake class freak Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook) into a prom queen.It's sort of like a modern adaptation of Pygmalion. This and other teen movies are prime to be mocked. RLC is a hot girl, and of course we only realize it after she takes her glasses off. But every genre has it's own clichés and it's own stereotypes. It doesn't negate the genre. This is a prime example of a movie taking all the clichés and making it all work for them.The most important part is definitely RLC. She does the grumpy girl and the sweet girl. And she does both by being the cutest ever. There are also some great young actors of that era including Anna Paquin, Dulé Hill, and Gabrielle Union. The cast is a young energetic group.

I'm actually surprised at all the negativity aimed at this movie. But I really shouldn't be, you know? It's a formulaic, stereotypical movie about high school and teenagers. In short, it's another teen movie (Not Another Teen Movie - get it?). But there is something disarming about "She's All That." It's sweet, it's funny, it's cute, it's charming, and it's kind of innocent (in its own unique way, of course).OK, maybe I'm being a little hyperbolic with calling this movie "innocent," but I'm making these judgments because this is a movie that I've always admired since it first came out in 1999 - I was 14 and in middle school that year, so I was definitely within its target audience - and I eagerly rented it on VHS from Blockbuster Video after being released on home video. Regrettably, I never really watched it again after that for some reason; I really wish I could come up with a reasonable explanation, but I honestly have none. (As an aside, a few months ago I purchased the movie on Blu-ray DVD and I finally had the opportunity to watch the movie in its entirety for the first time in 12 years.)I personally feel that, unlike many of the teen comedies released on the tail end of the oh-so-cynical seen-it-all '90s, "She's All That" was one of the far better movies from that time. It was incredibly well-acted (by its wholesome, good-looking leads, played by Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook), well-written (by R. Lee Fleming, Jr), and directed (by Robert Iscove). I felt that the budding romantic chemistry between the two leads was real and believable. Additionally, the characters, especially Cook's character, Plain Jane art student Laney Boggs, seemed real, three-dimensional, and sympathetic.I single out Rachael Leigh Cook because this was really her movie all the way. In other words, she simply wasn't running her character through the motions of Fleming's script, and she made Laney Boggs all her own - a living, breathing human being and not a brown-eyed, brunette-haired bombshell. She doesn't go from zero to 10 in the time it takes for you to zip up your jacket, no (even though in the real world, it would be utterly ridiculous for her to be considered, even in her "ugly duckling" stage, anything less than "very, very pretty"; all she needs to do is lose the glasses, do her hair, and update her wardrobe and she's done - instant prom queen status). Her transformation into a beauty queen is something that is seen as a gradual process and is full of real effort on her part. In other words, She really is All That.At the beginning of the film, all-American jock - star soccer player - and class president and essentially nice good-guy Zack Siler (Prinze, Jr.) is publicly dumped by his shallow, self-absorbed girlfriend Taylor Vaughan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) for an annoying reality TV star from "The Real World" named Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard, of "Scream"). Zack bets with his best friend Dean (Paul Walker) that he can turn any girl in the school into a prom queen in six weeks. Dean chooses Laney Boggs. Predictably, Zack starts to fall for Laney - especially after his younger sister Mackenzie (Anna Paquin) gives her an extreme makeover - and soon finds himself questioning his bet with Dean.As I stated earlier, there isn't a whole lot to the plot that hasn't been seen before in earlier, better teen pictures (like, say, for instance, 1987's "Can't Buy Me Love," which this film could be considered in some ways a modern update of). But what saves it are its performances from two real, likable characters who are given a chance on-screen to really learn from each other, and learn ABOUT each other and make some unique discoveries about themselves in the process. It's just a quality that I wish more teen films shared these days."She's All That" - It really is All That, and then some more.8/10