Burnet_review

=Never Been Kissed=



[|Never Been Kissed](1999), is a modern day love story that brings you back to the excruciating days of trying to fit in while still being unique in High School. Directed by [|Raja Gosnell], it’s 1 hour and 48 min long and rated PG-13. Josie Geller graduated a nerd from high school, and now is trying to leave behind her geeky ways along with the horrible nickname of ‘Josie Grosie’, as she tries to become an accomplished journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times. She soon learns that the past is never far away, when asked to do her first undercover story on High School life. Suddenly she’s back to square one, 17, trying to fit in, and even worse, at her old high school. Along the way she encounters new friends that embody old ones, gets a fresh start and learns that even the popular girls have it tough.

As reality sets in that she will actually be reliving her high school days, memories of past experiences haunt her, but she decides that it can’t be that bad. After her first few days in school, she’s made more enemies than friends, spending her Friday nights hanging out with the math league and searching for her stolen car. The only person she can talk to is Aldys Martin [|(Leelee Sobieski)] a student who reminds her of herself as a high schooler, and her Shakespeare teacher, Sam Coulson [|(Michael Vartan)]. She’s about to give up and acknowledge the fact that she will never be ‘cool’, but to her surprise her dead beat brother Rob [|(David Arquette)] enrolls in the same school because he truly wants another shot at life. As a hot shot in high school himself, she goes by his motto “All you need is for one person to think you’re cool and you’re in. Everyone else will be too scared to question it.” Rob decides that he could be that person that thinks she’s ‘cool’, but they can never say that they’re related. Soon Josie finds herself popular and hanging out with the ‘in’ crowd. Her dreams have come true but she soon realizes that the grass might not always be greener on the other side, and learns, with a twist ending, that she has to “Find out who you are and try not to be afraid of it”.

Within the first few minutes of the film you’re drawn to Barrymore’s quirky attitude and laugh along to her humorous attitude towards life. The movie keeps you interested because anyone can easily relate to Barrymore’s character, even if that person is no longer in high school because the main concept of the movie is the same. Finding your true self and being proud of it. Even though an hour and 48 min isn’t your typical movie length, the ending is worth the wait. Throughout the movie I became connected with her and by the end you’re on the edge of your seat rooting for her. The ending will not only surprise you but if you’re a sappy love story type person, it’s just for you.

The movie was carried out perfectly with the accompaniment of the actors. Drew Barrymore’s role as Josie Geller and Michael Vartan’s role as Sam Coulson were perfectly played. They both shared chemistry and half way through you completely forget that they are actors and you start to believe that they really are Josie and Sam. David Arquette also plays the role of Rob Geller, Josie’s brother very well. His humorous outlook on life and playful ways make It believable that he’s in high school.

Unfortunately the only DVD extra is a [|trailer] to the movie not counting the widescreen format you can choose from.

The movie is great for a high school, sappy love movie type person. If your not in high school, you’ll probably think that it’s over rated and not true to real life, and If your not the sappy love movie type person you’ll gag at the perfect ending and cute lines such as, “that moment, when you kiss someone and everything around becomes hazy and the only thing in focus is you and this person and you realize that that person is the only person that you're supposed to kiss for the rest of your life”. But for me, seeing as how I’m in high school and definitely a sappy love movie type person, its one of my favorite movies. I’ll ignore some of the flaws that some people love to point out (that her teacher shamelessly flirts with her, but in real life if he did that he would be arrested), to enjoy it. In the end it is just a movie, not a documentary where every piece of evidence has to be true to life. So grab a friend, a bowl of popcorn and maybe even a box of tissues as you enjoy this four star rated movie.