A film in the vain of John Hughes's great 80's teen comedies

Rating: Null/10 (11 January 2000)

With the great genre of 'Teen Comedy' looking decidedly tired at the moment it is refreshing to see this well directed, scripted and acted offering reminiscent of John Hughes's great teen comedies of the 80's such as 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and 'The Breakfast Club'. The young previously unknown actors worked perfectly together with Jason Biggs doing a wonderfully confused 'Jim', Eddie Kaye Thomas a suave 'Finch' and Natasha Lyonne shines a streetwise cool as the dry witted 'Jessica'. Adam Herz's script is pacy and never fails to keep the viewer enthralled. Perhaps however it's greatest feature is the fact that it doesn't treat a presumably younger audience as though it has the brain capacity of a fly (Be watching for a very funny reference to 'The Graduate'). It's fast, funny and manages throughout to hold onto a central issue. My only complaint is the incredibly harsh rating it received in the US. Far from being unsuitable for persons younger than 18 I recommend that it is shown to all people in high school to help de-mystify the issue of teenagers and sexuality.