She's the Man Reviews
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Loosely based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night - She's the Man tells the modern day story of Viola, she's your every day girl who also has a passion for soccer. Unfortunately, the girls soccer team at her school has just been cut. When her twin brother, Sebastian, jets off to London just as he was supposed to start at a new boarding schol Viola pretends to be him with the intention of proving her soccer abilities as guy then revealing she's really a girl. Things get complicated however when Viola finds herself falling for her roomate, Duke, who meanwhile is crushing on another girl, Olivia, who ends up crushing on Viola while thinking she is in fact Sebastian. Oh what a tangled web we weave...
I totally adored this film, so much more then I'd expected myself to. It starts out a little slow and predictable but picks up pace at about the half hour mark.
The writing is witty, the performances are great. Amanda Bynes really sparkles as Viola and brings her unique comedic talents to the part. Channing Tatum, who plays Duke, convincingly portrays a hearthrob character who is genuinely bad with girls and lacks self confidence. He makes the character one you can truly love.
There a number of great laugh out loud moments and some good cringeworth scenes.
The film avoids the cliches of crossdressing films and avoids the dramas it could have touched on with Viola trying to hide her identity while sharing a room with Duke, instead it focuses more on their relationship and her soccer ambition.
Definitely a teen romantic comedy that is a must see!
Review #2 by Laura O
This I also watched on a plane (yet again with a broken TV). However, this one I did not find nearly as enjoyable.
Amanda Bynes plays Viola, a tomboy who's school soccer team has been cut. Her twin brother Sebastian is escaping to London for a few weeks to work on his music. Viola comes with a brilliant idea to dress up and act like her brother and attend his elite boarding school where she plays on his school soccer team. Sounds simple, right? Not for Viola. Things get messy when Viola falls for her hunky roommate Duke (newcomer Channing Tatum). But Duke has a thing for Olivia, the blonde bombshell of the school that everyone likes. While on the other hand, Olivia has a thing for Sebastian, who is actually Viola!!! Sounds like a messy love triangle if you ask me!
Maybe it was just the airplane. Or maybe my pet peeve of cheesy romantic comedies. Whatever the reason may be, I simply did not enjoy this one. Maybe it is for comedic reasons or character reasons, but Amanda Bynes should really stick with being a girl. Her performance as a guy comes off as some very weird, very strange third sex that I am not aware of. Like I said, it could be for actor reasons. However, Channing Tatum's performance as Duke, the insecure, terrible-with-girls stud is superior. Not only are his abilities as a comic actor good, but scenes that were more dramatic he proved well in. One of my favorite scenes is the tampon scene, when the guys discover Viola's tampons.
It could be my strong dislike for romantic comedies, but She's the Man simply does not rate on my list of good movies. However I look forward to seeing Tatum in future, more dramatic roles.
Review #3 by Natalie
Similar to 1999’s Ten Things I Hate About You, She’s The Man is a teen update of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies- Twelfth Night.
Amanda Bynes stars as Viola Hastings, an all-American girl who has a passion for soccer. When she finds out the girls’ football team on her school has been cut, she is furious, until her twin brother Sebastian shows her a way out. He decides to head for London to get a shot at a music career in London for 2 weeks, so Viola decides to dress up as Sebastian and score a spot on the boys’ soccer team at Sebastian’s new boarding school.
Things get really complicated when Viola falls for her handsome roommate Duke, who likes Olivia, the most beautiful girl at the school, who in turn falls for Viola in Sebastian’s garb. Because of this, Sebastian’s girlfriend Monique, hates Olivia. As if things cannot get anymore complicated, it does, when Sebastian turns up earlier than expected and the whole school is therefore thrown into chaos over Sebastian and Viola’s true identities. As in all Shakespearean comedies, everything gets sorted out in the end and everyone gets a happy ending. Except for those nasty people.
I really loved this movie, which I didn’t expect. Sure, it has those cliché endings where everything ends up all pretty, but that’s the whole charm of teen comedies, right?
The cast was brilliant, for one. Amanda Bynes was fabulous in her role as Viola. The character itself was very well-developed, showing that girls can love football, and still be normal. Amanda did her best to develop Viola’s personality further. I felt that her acting skills have really improved since What A Girl Wants. Channing Tatum was great as Duke, who is convincing in his role as a really good-looking guy with no clue on how to chat up girls. I can’t wait to see him in Step Up!
There were some really hilarious scenes, involving Viola trying to fit in with ‘the guys’ and boosting her social status. I also liked the fact that Viola was really committed in her soccer and the script didn’t shy away from the whole football business, which was why the whole mess started from in the first place.
The supporting cast was absolutely wonderful. I personally found Laura Ramsey (Olivia) and Alex Breckenridge’s (Monique) acting surprisingly good. Laura was excellent as Olivia, but Alex Breckenridge was really the perfect villain of the story, with some of the most memorable lines and scenes in the movie.
She’s The Man was a really feel-good movie, because the characters all are generally good people at heart, and true friendship and trust are some of the key issues that I felt were very well-portrayed.
One of the best teen movies I’ve seen, and as I’ve mentioned, surprisingly good, and definitely not one of those lame teen comedies you often get.
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