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SHE'S THE MAN A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
SHE'S THE MAN, which says it was "inspired by" Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," is a teen comedy about mistaken identities. Although it starts off badly, like a TV movie for the Nickelodeon channel, the movie actually improves with age, thanks to its winsome lead, Amanda Bynes. Bynes has previously made many otherwise pathetic pictures kind of cute. Check out, for example, WHAT A GIRL WANTS and BIG FAT LIAR. She has trouble getting her footing in SHE'S THE MAN, but once she finally locates the comedic center of her character and stops hamming it up so much, she wins a place in our hearts. Given the awkward and awful way in which SHE'S THE MAN starts, this is no small feat.
The story begins with the demise of the girl's soccer team at a high school. Soccer is being replaced by lacrosse. Since Viola (Bynes) had been dreaming of Carolina blue, i.e., playing soccer at the University of North Carolina, she is disappointed but not despondent. She quickly cooks up a scam in which she will dress as her twin brother Sebastian and live in his dorm room at his new prep school. Sebastian, you see, has just skipped town in order to play with his band in London for two weeks.
Although Bynes's proclivity to let her voice go in and out of male mode is funny at first, it quickly gets tiresome and irritating. Only her inherent likeability as an actress makes the first portion of the movie the least bit bearable. But, as her love for her new roommate Duke (Channing Tatum) kicks into gear, the humor gets increasingly better. It is, however, never consistent. Whenever the bald headmaster with his fake looking beard and stupid mannerisms enters the frame, it is hard not to groan aloud.
The movie pushes few limits, and, except for a tampon joke, I think the film would have gotten a PG rating rather than its PG-13. I suspect they stuck in this one slightly racy bit of humor, thinking that most teens would view a PG film as not cool enough to spend their money on.
The movie's silliness is both its curse and its gift. If you can make it through its cheesy first part, you'll begin to be charmed by the actors and the characters they play. The movie is as predictable as can be, right down to the obligatory big ending game -- guess who scores the winning goal? -- but the film ends up being kind of cute and strangely attractive.
SHE'S THE MAN runs 1:45. It is rated PG-13 for "some sexual material" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 17, 2006. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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