Never Been Kissed (1999)

Okay, so before I start I would like to make it clear that I saw this movie late on in life, and it's already considered kind of old, which I'm sure has had a huge impact on my judgment of the film... I know that this is a hugely loved film by many women (and some men I know, for that matter) so I don't mean to upset any cult followers with my rating of it, but unfortunately by the time I saw this film there was nothing really unique about it. It's all been done before, and after having been given so many good reports, I guess my expectations were just too high. I love Drew Barrymore, I think she's a great actress, but this can hardly be considered one of her finest roles (that's not a complaint, by the way, just saying). So really I don't feel that I've missed out on much. In the film Drew had to wait until she was nearly 25 to get the kiss of her dreams, I had to wait that long to see this movie, and like the kiss, some things are kind of over rated.

Well, given that this movie's title seems to tell a completely clichéd story, I started watching it without much excitement; in fact, I was ready to see a bomb. Fortunately, this is not what it turned out to be. "Never Been Kissed" has a very creative story, and I was amazed for such good ideas these filmmakers had. Josie goes undercover in a high school class, in order to discover some interesting story to tell in her job as a journalist. However, once she gets involved with the students-- and with one teacher--, she starts remembering what high school was like when she was actually there, bringing some nostalgic thoughts in her mind. It's interesting to notice nowadays known actors doing their jobs when they were younger. In this case, Drew Barrymore's character looks much like the classic Cindy Campbell from "Scary Movie" franchise-- except for the spectacular Campbell's dumbness. The film is full of funny situations; one, in particular, is when the rude big boss screams at everyone in the first reunion. The other happens when Josie eats cake in the party, mainly when one Rastafari dude tells her the cake contains vitamins t, h and c. The bullying portrayal in high school isn't anything different from what you've seen in other movies, so you may not expect much from it. One thing that irritates me is the tradition that Hollywood has in portraying all nerds wearing braces; I mean, only geek people are born with flaws in their teeth? What's wrong with common people using them? The film's ending sadly appeals to cliché moments, but, in my point of view, the overall qualities turn that forgivable, and the outcome is positive for the viewer. "Never Been Kissed" is, with a few exceptions, a relatively intelligent work that deserves to be seen, even if you've already seen a thousand of high school movies out there. It's better than the most, I assure you.

I do not write reviews about very many movies. Only when one has touched me, either inspiring me or provoking me. Never Been Kissed is one of the worst, most mean-spirited movies I have ever seen. I would hate anyone if they had done this to Drew Barrymore, who we all love, but alas, she voluntarily accepted this part. I was going to go along with the plot when she said she was going "undercover" back to high school for the newspaper piece, but when I heard that, I thought, "Oh. A returning student in her twenties. It happens. Shouldn't be too traumatic. The cruelty and naivety of what happens in the film, however, was too much to bear, as this twenty (or thirty) something tries to act not like a 16-17 year old, but a drunken 5 year old. The moment when the teacher asked her if she was really 17 was excruciating. The gym class scene was heart-breaking, all the more so because it was Drew Barrymore, who, as in most of her films, plays a character with a tender, sensitive disposition. This was a perverse film, full of emotional sadism on the part of the other students and inexcuseable naivety on the part of Ms Geller. After the insults and pain she had experienced in high school (the first time), she should have returned ready and willing to devastate the opposition with her knowledge, education and experience. Besides the ethics and legality issues involved in obtaining personal information from minor children under false pretenses, this film actually gives us stern warning about ambition, self-delusion, deceipt and imitation. How many people will we lie to for money, mis-representing ourselves and for how long? What is the price we pay when the punishment that we are begging for comes to be? What is our pleasure when tender hearts are devoured by other's egoism and self-absorption?

I had heard the title many times from various sources, and I had always known who the leading actress was, so when I got the opportunity to finally see it, I did, from director Raja Gosnell (Home Alone 3, Big Momma's House). Basically twenty five year old Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) is a clever but at the same time simple and clumsy copy editor for the Chicago Sun Times, and she has ambitions to make it as a real reporter. She gets the chance to achieve this with her boss, the editor Rigfort (Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall) sending undercover in a high school to see what the modern teenagers are like. So at South Glen South High School she poses as a student, but with her simple ways she is instantly looked on as the accident prone brainy geek, and this does not do her any favours as in her real life Josie has never been kissed romantically. Her brother Rob (David Arquette) does his best to make her over, and soon enough he poses as a student in the high school himself, and the siblings both find love interests, in Josie's case she has feelings for her bachelor teacher Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan). The deadline for making her story is drawing closer, and the risk of blowing her cover is becoming even more large as her personal feelings towards the school inhabitants are getting in the way. In the end, even though her true identity is revealed, Josie does manage to write a very concise and informative story about her experiences acting like and being teenagers, and of course, with the help of her story, she manages to get her true love first kiss with Sam. Also starring The Wicker Man's Leelee Sobieski as Aldys, The Grinch's Molly Shannon as Anita, John C. Reilly as Gus, Marley Shelton as Kristin, Spider-Man's Octavia Spencer as Cynthia, Jessica Alba as Kirsten and James Franco as Jason. Barrymore does give a charming performance being constantly clumsy and trying her best to fit in with the crowd, Arquette gets his time as her odd but likable brother, and the other cast members are fine as well, the person pretending to be something else for some reason is not all that original, and the same goes for the love story element, but there are some likable and funny moments in this alright romantic comedy. Okay!