She's the Man

Rating: 6/10 (9 August 2010)

Viola (Amanda Bynes), a talented football ("soccer") player, is appalled to hear that her school is going to pull the plug on the girls' football team and that she's not allowed to join the boys' team either. She devises a plan to keep playing: she disguises herself as her brother Sebastian (James Kirk) and enrolls in another school to join the boys' team there. Easier said than done; besides maintaining a credible masculine appearance and behaviour, she also has to deal with criss-crossing romances of her new friends and herself. She likes Duke (Channing Tatum) who in turn likes Olivia (Laura Ramsey), while Viola and Sebastian's exes Justin and Monique (Robert Hoffman and Alexandra Breckenridge) are also in the picture making things even more complicated.
The comedic style is quite noisy and exaggerated, as expected – rock songs are constantly blasted in the background and overacting is not frowned upon. At first most of the humour is derived from Bynes' behaving like an over-the-top male stereotype, but later on the focus is put more on traditional rom-com plot lines; misunderstandings, jealousy and secret scheming behind each other's backs. Football only provides a backdrop for the story, at least until the finale, but the movie was never really supposed to be a sports film anyway, so it doesn't matter that much.
There are funny moments scattered throughout the film, such as the antics of the school's overly friendly principal (David Cross) and the tough football coach (Vinnie Jones), but ultimately the story is a pretty ordinary romantic comedy. Amanda Bynes is at home in the lead role and saves a lot with her youthful energy though, so if complex but comedic love triangles are your thing, you may well add a star or two to my rating.