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If you see one Kirsten Dunst teen flick, make it the haunting
The Virgin Suicides (1999) or the charming cheerleading comedy
Bring It On (2000) before you reach for this film, Tommy O'Haver's shambling follow-up to
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (with
Will and Grace's Sean Hayes as Billy). Despite Dunst's appealing performance as aspiring songwriter Kelly, this romantic comedy is rarely very romantic or comic. Ben Foster, so compelling in Barry Levinson's semiautobiographical
Liberty Heights (1999), is quite the wet blanket as clumsy basketball player Berke (
Berke?). Granted, his long-time girlfriend, Allison (Melissa Sagemiller), dumps him during the opening credits to the tune of "Love Will Keep Us Together" (a highlight), but it's still hard to see what Kelly would find so attractive about such a sleepy-eyed sad sack. Superior teen comedies
Clueless and
American Pie would seem to have influenced the candy-colored sets, gross-out humor, and topless babes, but the magic is mostly missing. And
magic is the key word as the plot mostly revolves around a musical adaptation (directed by Martin Short's flamboyant drama teacher) of
A Midsummer Night's Dream in which Kelly, Berke, Allison, her new boyfriend Striker (Shane West as a vapid pop star), and Dennis (real-life pop star Sisqó) perform. Life imitates art at the end as Berke's
Dream-inspired fantasies become reality... but the story would have been more interesting if told from Kelly's point of view. With Colin Hanks as Kelly's overprotective brother and Swoosie Kurtz and Ed Begley Jr. as Berke's permissive parents.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product Description
Kirsten Dunst (BRING IT ON), Sisqo, and Ben Foster (TV's FREAKS AND GEEKS) shine in this hilariously hip comedy! After Berke (Foster) gets dumped by Allison, the hottest girl in school, he'll do anything to get her back! Against the advice of his buddies Dennis (Sisqo) and Felix (Colin Hanks -- THAT THING YOU DO!), Berke desperately follows Allison into the high school play! But when he's inept onstage, Berke gets bailed out by his friend's little sister (Dunst) ... who just might be the one to help him get over Allison! Also featuring Martin Short (FATHER OF THE BRIDE) and Shane West (DRACULA 2000) -- nothing goes as planned in this entertaining treat!