A pleasant surprise

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2006)

This movie was fresh, quirky, and consistently funny. Any weak moments can be attributed to the genre (and its teenage fan base) and were few and far between. Someone made the wise decision to let David Cross be David Cross, Amanda Bynes nailed the role (the odd southern-accent-as-male voice was brilliant), and the supporting cast did what it was supposed to do. I also thought the movie very nicely captured the complicated but essential homoerotic vibe between Duke and Viola-as-Sebastian. It ends how it sort of has to end (implausibly), but who cares? If it was good enough for Shakespeare, it's good enough for another teen movie.