Movie Review Rewind: You Again (2010)

On the latest edition of Movie Review Rewind, Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2010 for a look at Kristen Bell in You Again.

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You Again is a bunch of talented women trying their hardest to make you love them, hate them, and laugh at them. However, it is tough to do considering the movie’s predictability and its cheap laughs. It is not a smart comedy that has a well-structured story and characters with depth. It is the complete opposite. One-note characters that compete with each other’s high school nemesis until the inevitable happens—closure.

Marni (Kristen Bell) wore glasses, had braces, and a face full of pimples in high school. Original, right?  Joanna (Odette Yustman) was a high school cheerleader who has the looks and the body for it. She tormented Marni in high school. Her brother was a popular basketball jock who was liked by everyone. He helps change her ways and build confidence. Now, she is a successful PR pro who just received a huge promotion in New York. But all of her high school memories come rushing back once she goes home for her brother’s wedding and realizes his fiancée is her arch-nemesis from high school.

But Joanna does not remember Marni or her high school past. Marni’s mom, Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), tells her to give Joanna a chance and all of that is in the past. But she will have to take her own advice once her nemesis from high school, Ramona (Sigourney Weaver), who is Joanna’s aunt, comes in to town. And the rest of the movie is them dealing with their past and confronting their bullies who tried to ruin their life during those precious high school years.

What is most disappointing is seeing these wonderful actresses fall to a terrible script that relies on stupidity more than any kind type of reality. Bell is a good actress. She has not had much luck in movies this year after the flop of When in Rome. She showed a little bit of comedy in Couples Retreat. The humor in this movie does not suit her. It does not suit anyone, actually. It is just full of worthless jokes and ridiculous slapstick humor.

The movie’s main appeal are the veteran actresses: Curtis, Weaver and Betty White. Curtis and Weaver have the best chemistry and appear to be having the most fun. Their roles are easy and light, and mainly involve jumping in pools, dancing, and doing cheers. Director Andy Flickman tries to recreate the White from The Proposal but no can do. As great as she is, she is playing a watered-down version of herself. Only at the end do we see a glimpse of some real White attitude.

You Again was able to gather a nice cast full of talented women, but why they all decided to do this one is beyond me. Perhaps it was so they could all work together. I hope it was worth it. There are some good moments in the movie, but not important enough to take more time to mention them.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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