Customer Reviews

It's a Boy Girl Thing ( It's a Boy/Girl Thing ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gender swap comedies are a motif that Hollywood revisits every decade or so. There was Switch (1991), The Hot Chick (2002), and now It's a Boy Girl Thing. Coming out of the 80s, when women wore square shoulder corporate suits and fought the glass ceiling, there was an aggression that Ellen Barkin captured. Coming out of the 90s, when gender confusion as hip, the Hot Chick followed suit. These days however, when (young) girls flash gang signs on myspace, Muay Thai kickbox each other on the head on youtube, and curse like truck drivers, Samaire Armstrong , playing her neighbor Woody trapped within, has a much harder time showcasing the rift between the sexes.

I mean c'mon: Girls today act more like boys than boys girls.

With all her shrugs, posturing, manly strut, spitting, and cursing bravado, it all but sounds like a typical girl I see in the malls.

Kevin Zegers, on the other hand, lives up to the part by pulling out all the stops on the suddenly sensitive, suddenly well-dressed, suddenly effeminate (or stereotypically gay) football jock.

One of the bonuses the story of this movie contains is the concept of "access." In many gender swapping movies, the humor and plot is based on what one sex discovers about the other half once he or she inhabits the other's body. In It's A Boy Girl Thing, that access takes a sharp turn midway into the movie, and suddenly each character discovers what is being said about him/her from the house next door. Woody (a high school football star with loud parents), inhabiting Nell's body finds out what Nell herself, taking after her mother's bourgeois snobbishness, had said about him. Nell (a preppy girl headed for Yale), inhabiting Woody, learns that the neighboring fathers, once friends, had been pushed apart by her own snobbish mom. With this revelation, Nell (with Woody inside) suddenly realizes where his place is in society.

Once the gender swap plot fades into a (social) class swap story, THEN Samaire Armstrong's acting comes alive.

I find movies about swapping roles always have a latent social critique. Of course the fact that Elton John is the executive producer helps me read into the notion of how one's environment and natural disposition will factor strongly in determining destiny. It's a visual pun on "coming out."

Well the movie is sweet and the romance is snuggle up nice. It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but then again, that may have more to do with the age of this reviewer than the movie itself.

"It's is a boy girl thing" isn't the kind of movie I'd normally rent. In fact, I didn't rent it, but when I found it in my house, I gave in to temptation and watched it. I must confess it made me laugh.

This film is very predictable, but quite funny, despite the fact that the humor is rather crude sometimes... The two main characters are Nell (Samaire Armstrong), a bright and somewhat nerdy young woman, and Woody (Kevin Zegers), a football player that has the popularity that Nell lacks, but isn't very accustomed to using his brain. Even though these typical albeit very different teenagers can't stand each other, they will have to reach a compromise, due to an spell that ends up switching their bodies. Confusion ensues, as you can imagine...

All in all, I think that those that are expecting the classic high school comedy will like it, if their expectations are just to have some fun... If that is your case, recommended.

This movie is very funny, and had a beautiful love story and message. It was like Freaky Friday, and The Hot Chick mixed together. Woody Deane and Nell Bedworth hate each other. They are neighbors who want nothing to do with each other. During a trip to a museum, and are forced to work together, and they begin to argue in front of a statue of the ancient Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. The statue casts a spell on them, and they wake up to swapped bodies. Woody has become Nell, and Nell has become Woody. In the process of trying to figure out how to change back, they intentionally destroy each others' social life. After Woody sticks up for Nell, they slowly begin to fall in love. I highly recommend IT'S A BOY GIRL THING!!!

The leaders are very good. They almost make you believe a body swap happened. Some good laughs (like when he in the girl's body gets a bikini wax but a little preachy.

At first they try and ruin each other's lives which makes no sense since they have no idea how long they are going to be each other - it could be fore ever. The movie gets better when they try and help each other - she to learn football and he to learn poetry and literature.

Near the end they actually like being each other and in a touching scene say they would be honored to live as each other. It might have been a better or more original film if they didn't change back.

Good ending at the prom as well as good use of Shakespears poetry

Kevin Zegers is adorable and the connection between him and his female counterpart increase over time. It shows the real issues between guys and girls and how, if they only switched places, they would better understand what the other half goes through. Great inspiring film.

Suppose the mind of Freaky Friday were mysteriously transported to the body of just about any teen movie ever - you'd get something that looked a lot like this. Instead of mother and daughter this time, it's a teenaged boy and girl whocan barely stand each other. He's the uberjock, with the big homecoming game coming up, she's the Yale-bound, bookish type.

The result is pretty predictable: bathroom and locker room jokes, some body-part humor but less than you might think, and a happy ending all around. Oh, and the Mean Girls character ends up publicly embareassed (spelling is intentional), which just goes towards making the ending happy. Best watched if you're doing something else at the same time.

-- wiredweird

It's interesting that a film can bring back those hopes and painful memories of the past so easily. I've been out of high school for a very long time but found I really enjoyed this film. It didn't go over the top and it gave me some good laughs. The soundtrack was exceptional and brought alot of energy and mood to the film. Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong were impressive in their respective roles. It's a romantic comedy with some familiar gags, but Maury Chaykin and Sharon Osborne as Woody's parents give it a different flavor. It's one I'd watch more than once so that should say it has some depth of character. Is it a four star movie or is it just that Kevin Zegers is so spell-binding??? What's the difference....it's a four star spell-binding performance and wouldn't be the same without him, however it was well done all the way around.

Okay, I did enjoy this movie for the most part. The actors did a good job with a pretty predictable plot that really had only one possible resolution. All of the characters were stereotypes of one sort or another but of course, the two leads get over their personal prejudices and move to the inevitable ending. sigh. If there was one thing that could have made this better (at least from my perspective) is that they could have done away with so much of the humor being dependant upon sexual organs. The film was cute, funny and touching. It seemed to be pretty well acted and made you feel good in the end. Oh, and Nell's dad: There was a man of integrity. What a guy! Worth seeing...once

I have to admit that I didn't expect this film to be so good. The body swap has been done so often that it didn't seem possible to come up something fresh. Well, this film succeeds. Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong are really outstanding performers and make this gender-swap fantasy work. Very entertaining.

This is a typical teen, coming of age movie. She's neat. He's a slob. She's an 'A' student. He's a jock. They don't like each other or respect each other. I bet you can see where this is going.

As the cover shows, they change lives and find out what it's like to walk in the other's shoes. It's a fun film and will help preteens and teens with relationships. It may also help with gender issues and understanding the opposite sex.