I expected much better...

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2006)

She's the man is based on Shakespearean comedy 'Twelfth Night', the only difference is that the characters are high schoolers! The idea behind it is actually great and the characters' transformation and development is plausible.
Amanda Bynes stars as Viola Hastings, a tomboy who is more into soccer than pretty gowns and makeup (much to her mother's dismay), dating Cornwall football captain, Justin (Robert Hoffman). James Kirk plays Viola's brother Sebastian, an aspiring musician, who has recently been kicked out of Cornwall, and has never attended a single day at his new school, Illyria.
The girls soccer team at Cornwall has just been taken out, dampening Viola's soccer ambitions. However, she isn't ready to give up and avails the opportunity when Sebastian ditches his parents to perform with his band up in London, England, to take his space at Illyria.
Thus, with the help of her friends Paul (Jonathan Sadowski), Kia (Amanda Crew) and Yvonne (Jessica Lucas), she not only dresses up as a boy but learns to mimic the male way of walking and talking! Once at Illyria, Viola gets more than she bargained for, with the tough soccer practice Coach Dinklage (Vinnie Jones) is giving them, her itchy wig and the biggest problem of finding the shower room empty to take a bath! However, the upside to being in Illyria for Viola, is her roommate Duke Orsino (played by model-cum-actor Channing Tatum), whom she instantly falls for, only to discover that he is crushing on Olivia Lynnox (Laura Ramsey) Sebastian/Viola's lab partner, who is dating Dorm Director Malcolm Festes (James Snyder).
Due to her childish looks and weak body frame for a guy, Viola-cum-Sebastian doesn't fit right in with the crowd at Illyria, however with a little help from her friends, her social status boosts right up and she even realizes that Olivia Lynnox is actually in love with her being her brother Sebastian! Difficulties arise when Sebastian's snobby girlfriend Monique (Alex Breckendridge) goes on a quest to discover the real reason behind Sebastian's eccentric behavior. But what happens when Sebastian comes back from England a day earlier with a soccer game to play and Malcolm, driven by jealousy for Sebastian tries to find evidence to prove that Sebastian is actually Viola dressed up as a boy? Will Viola be able to play in the game, will she finally prove her point that girls can be as good at the game as boys can? A hilarious storyline and quirky dialogs make this movie good for a laugh. However, the performance by lead actors such as Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum is weak. The direction needs some work and the soundtrack is practically non-existent. Some of the performances are over the top, while some incidents that take place in the movie are quite impractical. However, side roles of Monique and Justin are very well played by their respective actors.
No doubt Amanda Bynes is one of the few ladies of her age who could ever have been able to pull such a role off, but she could have seriously done a better job at it. She lost a lot of cool points due to this one! Whereas, Channing Tatum should have just stuck to modeling and leave acting alone as his stiff motions and poor dialog delivery don't help bring up the overall image of a movie that could have been a lot better if supported by a better cast and direction.