Premise: A popular high school girl makes a bet that she can turn a class reject into - I want say Prom King, but I was never that clear about the terms. You know She’s All That? It’s gender-switched identical to that.
I should hate this movie a lot more than I did. Based on my age, She’s All That is supposed to be a sacred text of my youth. Despite only being the 38th biggest movie of 1999, it was quite a pop culture moment and became the go-to movie of the teen movie era of the late-90s and early 00s. Rachael Leigh Cook coming down the stairs with “Kiss Me” playing is a pivotal pop culture moment. And, the thing about this era of teen comedies that people forget is how self-aware they were of their cliches. They were imbued with a healthy amount of Gen-X cynicism already. That’s why Not Another Teen movie always annoyed me. It was making jokes that the movies themselves were already making, but that’s a rant for another day. So, He’s All That is in a weird space where it is trying to balance an earnest high school love story with a thoughtful refute of the dynamics of the original movie: a movie which was already commenting on the tropes of the genre while leaning into them. It turns into a snake eating its own tale.
Honestly though, I’ve seen She’s All That only once in full. I liked a lot of other movies from the era much more. I am 100% fine with someone lazily remaking it. It’s not like She’s All That wasn't “Teen Pygmalion” to begin with.
I should also be annoyed by how old this movie makes me feel. Like, I’m not sure anything has made me feel this ancient. I don’t understand why Addison Rae is a thing. I know she’s the biggest Tiktok star. I don’t get why. She’s attractive. She can dance pretty well. But what else is it about her? I’ve been able to wrap my head around almost every other kind of celebrity. Reality stars have a formal TV structure that they can break out with. Even the ones from shows like The Real Housewives are interesting in the sense that they live in extravagant communities. Sports and movie stars I obviously understand. Twitch has the gaming component attached to it. Podcasters generally have a specialty. Same with YouTubers. But what is an Addison Rae? The fact that I don't get Addison Rae immediately puts me on the outside looking in with this movie. And how much of the rest of the cast is famous among the kids already, anyway?
I recognize Peyton Meyer from Girl Meets World, although I wasn’t prepared for him to already be "mid-20s Zac Efron" ripped. Madison Pettis is a former child star who seems to be a personality at this point. Are Tanner Buchanan and Myra Molloy showing up to Teen Choice Awards though? I’m only so tapped into the Kissing Booth/To All the Boys generation.
Then there’s the Influencer aspect of the movie. I don’t know what to do with that. To me, this movie is Sky High but for Influencers instead of superheroes. How does everyone have so many followers? And how accurate is this to the high school experience now? I knew going in that I’d be agreeing with Matthew Lillard as the principal asking the kids to experience a moment not through their phone screen. I also know that, obviously, schools don’t have this level of wealth and influencer fame at them. However, I do get the sense that a lot of the teenage experience now is about how much and how well one can present themselves online. In a real 100-person class, how many students would actually have a Tiktok channel that they treat like it could become something? It’s all very weird to me and I’m not sure how much it reflects the mindset of this generation*.
*I’m not fully myopic. I'm aware Gen-Z generation isn't unique in this way. I’m writing this on a blog that I maintain with deathly seriousness even though it is purely a hobby. I had a website when I was in high school and worked diligently on an AOL Instant Messenger Away message that would perfectly express me. I know that Tiktok is just this generation’s way to express themselves. While I don’t get Addison Rae, her fame was democratized more than virtually any other fame in history. I know that generations are different, not better or worse. I’m human though and have more fondness for my generation.
One thing I can be rightly cynical about if the branding in the movie. This is not a subtle movie about how much sponsorship is in it. Whether it’s a character holding a Doritos bag in a way that no one in history ever has or a party being sponsored by Yum! brands, this movie is about as transparent about its sponsorship as any movie this side of Josie and the Pussycats*. It seems like Addison Rae’s team had a lot of control over the film too. There are the required dance sequences so she can show off her signature skill. It even has her give an impassioned speech about the good that influencers do in the world.
*Another Rachael Leigh Cook connection! Also, don’t forget that the sponsorship in Josie and the Pussycats was the joke of the movie.
I’ve just gone on for a really long time about all the reasons why I should hate the movie. I’m certainly not recommending the movie, but it really wasn’t that bad. Rae isn’t a very good actress. The movie doesn’t capture her star appeal at all. She’s not awful though. The rest of the cast know their parts. Madison Pettis is a mean girl. Tanner Buchanan is the secretly hunky guy (I saw that shirtless scene they snuck in to remind us that he does sit-ups) who acts like a self-made social outcast. Peyton Meyer is funny as the villainous himbo. Bringing in Rachael Leigh Cook (Rae’s mom) and Matthew Lillard as the principal are a nice nod to She’s All That (sadly, they are definitely not reprising their characters from the movie). I even can’t be mad at the Kourtney Kardashian character, because that's exactly who you want playing that role. Everyone is doing their job.
The story is a hard one to mess up. They create the right scenarios and hit the right beats. I’d be very surprised if this became as classic to the Zoomers as She’s All That is to the Millennials (and some Gen-X). It’s missing the marquee moments. Looking at Tanner Buchanan’s filmography, he’s not his generation’s Freddie Prinze Jr. Part of the fun of She’s All That was that Rachael Leigh Cook wasn’t that well know, so this movie could either come to define her or mark the start of a huge career. Addison Rae on the other hand is already incredibly famous and is trying to break out even more. After this, she’s still going to be “Tiktok star Addison Rae”. She may still become a movie star one day, but this movie has the feel of a Dirty 30 more than anything: an internet star proving that they can work OK in a film setting that fails to capture their star quality.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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