Review by Nicole Pedersen

I am far from a Shakespeare buff. I read Romeo & Juliet in high school and I know what iambic pentameter means, but that’s about the extent of my experience with the Bard. Luckily, however, Hollywood has always had my back. Thanks to the movies I am more than conversationally literate on most of Shakespeare’s works, and when someone decides to update King Lear I will have the whole set cold. I admit, I enjoy the modern film adaptations of Shakespeare plays a lot more than the textually faithful versions. Normal, er, pentameter may be low-brow, but at least it makes Shakespeare’s relevance crystal clear to today’s viewer instead of burying it inside a three-hour vanity project (Mel & Kenneth, I’m talking to you), that is barely decipherable to anyone without an MA in English Lit. The only possible exception is Baz Luhrman’s Romeo Juliet, which managed both a modern setting and original 16^th Century dialogue with captivating results.

Not so captivating is the latest homage to the works of Will, the teens-only comedy She’s the Man. Based on the original mistaken identity/cross-dressing caper Twelfth Night, She’s the Man stars Amanda Bynes as Viola, the girl who must dress as a boy to prove that she’s, um, the man.

Bynes’ Viola is a soccer player, but when her school cuts the girl’s team she decides to masquerade as her absentee twin brother Sebastian and temporarily enroll at rival Illyria Prep. Her goal is to make it onto the boy’s soccer team to prove to her insensitive beau that she is just as good as any man on the field. Trouble is she’s not. She makes it to the second string team only, is treated with disdain by her fellow footballers and suspicion by a nosy dorm RA. The only person at Illyria who is falling (literally) for her “Sebastian” act is the beautiful Olivia, object of desire to Duke Orsino, Viola’s sensitive-jock roommate. When Viola strikes a deal with Duke to win him Olivia’s heart in exchange for private soccer lessons and a starting spot in the big game, our Shakesperean love triangle is born.

She’s the Man was written by Jack “Ewan” Leslie with a feminist tune-up administered by the chick-empowerment specialists Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith (Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted). The duo found previous success pairing Shakespeare with modern high school shenanigans in 10 Things I Hate About You, their 1999 adaptation of the Taming of the Shrew. Lutz and Smith seem to have a good handle on the teen genre: fast pacing, cheap laughs and lots of montage sequences. Add in a tween-oriented soundtrack and subtract the Shakespearean character names and Twelfth Night becomes indistinguishable from just another teen movie.

TV cutie Amanda Bynes (What I Like about You) seems to have a gift for comedy. Although she makes a thoroughly implausible male, her plump facial features are tailor-made for the film’s goofy sight gags (yes, that is a tampon in her nose) while her excellent timing overcomes the annoying timbre of her male-inspired vocals. Although a PG-13 rating precludes most of the racier fare that a gender-bending farce like She’s the Man should incorporate, Bynes plays the diluted clichés she’s handed like a pro. If only her supporting cast were as able as Heath Ledger was in 10 Things, Bynes may have had herself a hit. But, unfortunately, director Andy Fickman (Reefer Madness: the Musical) seemed to believe he was casting a gay porn film instead of a teen romance.

Abercrombie & Fitch model Channing Tatum (Duke) spends the majority of the film shirtless. This ploy does tend to distract from his garbled abuse of the English language, but as he has the only direct Shakespeare quote in the film (“Some are born great…”) there is no denying that his pecs are better performers than he is. Superior acting is found in the supporting roles: British badass Vinnie Jones as Illyria’s soccer coach, Julie Haggerty as Mom and a muted David Cross (doing his best Woolie Willie impersonation) as Principal Gold.

Video / Audio / Extras

Widescreen Format in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

She’s the Man is filled with tons of “Way Cool Extras,” but all that glisters is not gold. Includes “making of” and cast shorts, 9 deleted scenes w/optional commentary, a gag reel set to music and cast photo collection. Most of these extras are just clips from the film strung together with tiny bits of interview footage. Of the deleted scenes, one is without sound and two others are horribly drawn-out versions of the film’s already plodding montages. Only the deleted scenes featuring the improvisations of David Cross are worthwhile, giving the audience a glimpse of how weird this film might have gotten.

Also included are two audio commentaries, the first with director Fickman, Amanda Bynes and, like, every other cast member they could find. While it is obvious the cast & Fickman got along like gangbusters on the set and had a ball recording their audio track, the commentary here isn’t exactly illuminating. Second is a by the books outing with writer Leslie & producer Lauren Donner.

Most worthwhile extra is the trivia track that can be played with the film. Anyone who’s been missing Pop up Video now that VH1 doesn’t play videos anymore will appreciate the minute details here on display, like:  “This is the first of 16 scenes where Channing Tatum has his shirt off.”

Final Words

Instead of an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, She’s the Man seems more like a re-make of the 1985 teen exploitation classic Just One of the Guys. Almost every element is in place, the woman masquerading as a boy who falls in love with another boy; the theme of trying to get respect in a male world, and even the go-to scrotum gag. What’s missing is the revelation of the luscious breasts of Guys’ star Joyce Hyser. All nudity in She’s the Man is kept safely off-screen, making this teen comedy, in the end, much ado about nothing.