Stars: Rachel Leigh Cook, Paul Walker, Freddie Prinze, Jr.
Cute but totally predictable high school romp about nerdy girl, Laney, (Rachel Leigh Cook) turned into a princess on way to becoming prom queen after prom king-in-waiting, Zack (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) bets his classmate Dean (Paul Walker) that he can turn the nerd into the flower of the ball.
The whole thing is a little too easy. They got the wrong girl to play the nerd because she’s just not that nerdy, not that goofy, not that ugly or anything else to show the ‘remarkable’ transformation of her into a butterfly. She is, however, standoffish and lonely.
It does come through with some important messages, like: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’, ‘It’s what inside that counts.’ And as far as romantic comedies for high schoolers, this is probably one of the more easier to take ones to come along in a long time. Nothing’s too naughty here despite some hard drinking/drugs in one scene and only one gross scene.
It was comical to see the nerd suddenly become a master hair/makeup stylist on herself (they always do) or the entire group of prom attendees perform dance numbers that look like something out of “West Side Story” or “Grease”. Other than those, I really have no major complaints. I didn’t think I’d like Freddie Prinze, Jr., but he was quite fine and personable here and overall the acting was good.
The two stars of the movie “The Mighty” (Kieran Culkin and Elden Henson) turn up here in the relatively small parts of Laney’s brother Simon and best buddy Jesse respectively. Jodi Lyn O’Keefe plays Taylor, a self-obsessed, totally stuck up snot who is Zack’s former girlfriend and Matthew Lillard plays Brock Hudson an egomaniac who’s hooked up with Taylor.
Lotta says not bad for the genre but nothing new either.