You Again

I was somewhat reluctant to go see You Again. I mean, I had seen the trailer and already knew everything I needed to know. Small town girl is ridiculed in high school, goes on to become pretty and successful, and returns home only to find her brother marrying the girl who made her life miserable in high school, thus regressing back to her high school self. Oh, and Betty White shows up and some point, as she is going to do in every romantic comedy from here on out until she dies or her sudden unexplained popularity falls by the wayside.

I COULD have just written a half assed review, based on the trailer, and none of you would be the wiser. However, I am glad I actually went to see the film so that I can tell you all not to go see it, as it was a complete waste of time and the talent of everyone involved.

And there is a LOT of talent, here. Besides White, the cast includes both Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver, as well as the charming Kristin Bell in the lead as Marni. Add to that some impressive cameos and you could have had the makings of a real success.

Unfortunately, You Again falters out of the gate and never manages to gain back any ground. The film is uneven, unfunny, and implausible. A sloppily directed opening introduces Marni as an awkward teenager, speaking to a camera for the High School time capsule (new pet peeve- web cam shots which are popping up everywhere, from Avatar to Easy A). We see her being tormented, as the entire school, led by Odette Yustman's Joanna, singing "We Are the Champions", picks her up and puts her outside, locking the door. Huh? This scene was so weird and so unnatural, I never recovered. Did the writer/director/anyone actually get harassed in high school? Because it wouldn't appear so.

Anyway, years later Marni is revealed to be an attractive and successful publicist. She returns home to find out, to her horror, somehow her brother is marrying the girl who made her life a living hell and, no one has any clue about it at all. Even Joanna herself seems to have no memory of her actions.

She has the family around her little finger, too, all the more vexing to Marni, who decides the only course of action is to reveal Joanna for who she was, in high school. I know, makes no sense. Well, its not my fault.

The film relies on pratfalls and shenanigans of the basest form. Marni falling into an anthill (HA...) her mom getting sprayed in the face with water (ha....), or that dude Marni likes getting hit in the face (hmm). This would be ok, except NONE of the schtick is actually funny. I thought I was going to make it through the entire film without laughing once, but a brilliant cameo appearance (I'll keep it a secret to force you to go see this movie*) in the last five minutes saved the day. Too bad I had to slog through 100 minutes of sloppy and ridiculous You Again to get there.

Marni nearly succeeds in her devious plan, but the dream wedding does indeed happen, of course not before the bride and groom both befall their own "funny" injuries, landing them both in the hospital. So, the dream wedding takes place in a hospital cafeteria, complete with Hall and Oates. Yeah, ok.

Oh, and for the record, I didn't include Yustman in my discussion on talent because... well, you can figure that out for yourself.


Attendance: 2/5
Crazy Fan Boy Factor: 0/5
Crowd Response: 0/5

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Production Value: 3/5
Humor: 1/5
Plot: 2/5
(*Just Kidding): It was Cloris Leachman

Overall: 4/10