I never thought that a teen comedy about a girl who goes undercover as a guy--would entertain me so thoroughly.
There is often a gulf between my wife's choice in movies and my own. I rented She's the Man simply to please her. But in the end, we found something we both enjoyed.
She's the Man stars the irrepresible Amanda Bynes as Viola, an ace soccer star who's high school team is the victim of a budget cut-back. The boys' coach won't let a girl try-out, so Viola masquerades as her twin brother at a nearby private academy.
Bynes' character lives in a boy's dorm and endures the typical challenges of mixing in (she's an effette geek), avoiding uncomfortable situations (gang showers), and hiding her girlness (through breast-bundling and tampon subterfuge).
I found myself cheering her on as she moved from social clumbsiness to popularity, and as she eventually worked her way into the starting line-up on the boys' team.
There's also a cute, but mildly sickening romance that ensues--but I found myself given over to Bynes' success and the slight humor of the film. Based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the bard proves once again that he's the standard for all the world's performances. Grade: A-
** Wow! Screenwriter William Shakespeare has over 650 film and television credits on IMDB.com. Stephen Spielberg comes close with over 500.
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