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| Directed by Raja Gosnell; Starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, Jessica Alba, Jeremy Jordan, Jordan Ladd, John C. Reilly, Marley Shelton, Michael Vartan, and Chad Haywood |
Last weekend I was excited over giving a recommendation to the dramatic comedy True Crime, this week that honor goes to an even less honored place, teen-oriented comedies. After sitting through She’s All That, Simply Irresistible, Jawbreaker, and 200 Cigarettes, you would think that I would jump at the chance of skipping every high school based films for the rest of the year. Of course then I would have missed Rushmore and this slight delight. Despite a poor ad campaign, Never Been Kissed suprises by giving up the overused storyline of teen angst and replaces it with adult angst over past teen angst. Not for one minute was I bored or yearning to look at my watch, which is quite an achievement considering that She’s All That would be more interesting if I had watched my watch keep time instead of the film.
Never Been Kissed is about an aspiring Chicago journalist (oh no, having Message in a Bottle flashbacks) that is sent on assignment to show what life was like as a teenager (thank heavens she is not sent to find some guy who happens to like to write in bottles). This is a bit unnerving for her because she had had a terrible high school experience, often shown to the audience in hilarious flashbacks. While under-cover she falls for two guys: one the most sought after guy in school (Jordan, who comes off more as the loner of the class than the big man on campus), the other her English teacher (Vartan). As things go, the teacher-student relationship becomes big news for her editor (Reilly) that sees it as an opportunity to break ground not started on by the competing Chicago newspaper (by the way it is Chicago Sun-Times vs. Chicago Tribune, the most famous of all newspaper clashes).
Barrymore is very likable in this causing me to, on the whim of the moment, call her one of the five best actresses under thirty. Maybe its from the old Lionel and John Barrymore blood, but she has been good in all of her films since Batman Forever in which she at least tried. Last year I gave her kudos in three films (The Wedding Singer, Ever After, and Home Fries) and I feel kind of slighted that according to the IMDb this is her only film for 1999. As for the rest of the cast, it is hit and miss. Arquette is quite enjoyable in this despite playing the tiresome stupid brother character. While he does make up for being in Ravenous, Molly Shannon is still not that lucky as A Night at the Roxbury still tarnishes any career she could ever have. Both Reilly and Marshall are hilarious (though I will never understand how Marshall can act so funny and then direct such unfunny comedies as The Other Sister). Vartan is okay, just well enough to make me want to see his recent film The Curve which also stars Keri Russell and Matthew Lillard. Sobieski is very enjoyable as the class nerd and I really like that the film did not play Hollywood formula in dealing with the outcome of her character. Which leads me Jordan, who gives a charming performance although I can’t help but think of how this is the same guy that tried to jump start a music career on Beverly Hills, 90210.
All in all, Never Been Kissed is a nice, sweet, endearing, feel-good comedy that comes ever so close to the more laughable Blast from the Past.
