Never Been Kissed

Executive producer Drew Barrymore casts herself as Josie Geller, a former high school nerd-turned-aspiring reporter who gets her first story assignment going undercover as a high school student. The film does a serviceable job of telling the story of a woman coming to terms with who she was and who she is, but that's one of the few things the script gets right. David Arquette--potentially an even more intriguing character as Josie's brother, a high school jock looking to recapture faded glory--is wasted as silly comic relief, and the romantic angle involving Josie's English teacher (Michael Vartan) is half-hearted and clumsy. An even greater problem is Barrymore herself, who subjects herself gamely to embarrassing situations but is all wrong for the role. As a sweet object of desire, she can be quite appealing; as a star in this film, she looks out of her depth, even more implausible as an adult than as a high school student. You always want to like a film this good-natured, though it tries awfully hard to be liked. But there's nothing here to distinguish Never Been Kissed from a hundred other movies about kids in high school. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)