"She's the Man" tries to be original and funny but the final verdict is very typical and average

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2006)

"She's the Man" is loosely based on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". The movie is about a girl named Viola (Amanda Bynes) who is basically a Tomboy. She loves the game of soccer with all her heart. But when her school cuts the girls soccer team, Viola is devastated and demands that she can be part of the male soccer team. But the coach of the male team denies her request. As she ventures home after the bad news, Viola finds out that her brother Sebastian (James Kirk) is secretly leaving for two weeks to go to London because his band is playing a concert there. So Viola gets the idea that since her brother is going to be away for 2 weeks, she can go to his school, pretend to be him and play soccer for her brother's high school soccer team. How can she do this you might ask? Well Viola and her brother Sebastian are Fraternal twins. So Viola becomes Sebastian and that's where the fun begins.
If you have seen the trailer for "She's the Man", you basically seen the entire movie. I haven't seen a movie in such a long time that really narrows its audience down like "She's The Man" does. If you really want to appreciate this movie you have to be a female between the ages of 10 to 16. I mean sure anyone can watch it and maybe have a cheap laugh or two but most will say I seen this movie before or this is just too infantile for me to appreciate. That's what I felt like when I sat through this film.
This movie can be compared to such movies as "Ladybugs" and "Just one of the Guys". The movie pretty much mixes both ideas together. One problem I had with this movie was the jokes were just so silly and over the top. I sat in a packed theater today and the only ones who laughed at majority of the jokes were those little girls between the ages of 10 to 16. The older crowd including parents and myself just sat, wondering what was so funny?
Also another problem I had with this film was the plot holes. And yes I know this is a comedy and I should have checked my brain at the door when coming into the theater but how did the mother and father not know about both Sebastian and Viola being gone. Furthermore, how the hell did anyone believe that Amanda Bynes was actually a guy? To me she wasn't very believable.
I think the main problem though was that "She's the Man" was just too typical of a movie. It followed suit of every lame teen movie ever made. It's predictable, the jokes weren't original, and the movie never produced anything new to help out an already stale genre. It didn't even try to be original nor did it try to appeal to anyone outside the target audience. Good comedies appeal to many people and although they are targeted to a specific group other groups can view them and enjoy them for different reasons then the target audience.
I don't really know what to say about Amanda Bynes. I have never been a big fan of her work and this movie does very little to change my mind about that. I must admit that I always feel I should like her because she always plays such a likable character but for some reason she can't win me over. Personally, I think Lindsay Lohan as an actress has great on-screen presence and can win an audience over but Bynes still hasn't had the ability to win me over yet. David Cross is hands down my favorite character in the movie and in all honesty was probably one of the biggest selling points to get me to watch "She's the Man." Although he delivers some nice solid laughs, Cross isn't in the film enough to really shine like he should. He plays such a minor character. The rest of the cast was pretty much just eye candy for the little pre-teens and teenagers who this movie was targeted for. They all did an OK job.
In the end, if you seen the trailer for "She's the Man" you have seen the entire movie. If you are between the ages of 10-16 run to the theater at the first chance you get. If you aren't in that demographic well I would definitely wait for DVD for this one. This movie isn't that bad but I just feel it's so typical and average. It's a film that so many have seen before and doesn't add anything new to the genre. "She's the Man" is pretty mild and harmless entertainment but it is also very forgettable. Amanda Bynes really needs to start doing movies that appeal to a larger audience than just teens. She may have the ability to be really good but this movie doesn't show it.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "She's the Man" is a 5/10. A must for teenyboppers but an average film for the rest of us.