She's All That

She's All That may have found the ideal twist on the oft-told tale of Cinderella by setting it in high school; where else does everyone thinks they need to be physically transformed to be worthy of love? This version casts Freddie Prinze Jr. as a SoCal senior who, after getting the dumpola from his cheerleader girlfriend, takes on a bet to transform the school art geek (Rachael Leigh Cook) into a prom queen. I'm sure everyone involved in the film thought they were telling a Cinderella story, particularly director Robert Iscove (who helmed the Brandy made-for-TV version a couple of years back). This, however, is a Cinderella story where the poor little girl is really a supermodel whose horn-rims and overalls hide porcelain features and a slinky va-va-voom bod waiting to emerge, severely dampening the suspension of disbelief. There's little chemistry between Cook and Prinze, little of anything, in fact, which would appeal to viewers beyond the same age as the characters. Then again, all that matters is appeal to same-age viewers, since it's basically a teen fantasy--every girl can go from pariah to princess with a sympathetic stud by her side, and every guy can create the hottie of his dreams. It's humorless and derivative, but it understands you, fellow high school student, feeling your adolescent pain like John Hughes crossed with Bill Clinton. Thank heaven for Matthew Lillard, who invests his spin on The Real World's Puck with enough egotistical energy to occasionally rouse the film from its stupor, but this is still a tedious collage of every other teen angst comedy you've ever seen, meandering sweetly toward a conclusion that tells its audience just what they want to hear--that someday their prince will come, and all it will take to nab him is a sausage-casing red dress. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)