REVIEW: “You Again” is a girl fight about nonsense
Men are violent but quick to forgive. Women are ruthless and won’t let go. “You Again” was an exaggerated depiction of an uninterrupted girl fight.
The story was basically a two-hour picture about the awful experience of high school. Grudges held are told through the eyes of young female adults, middle-aged women and grandmas that were coincidentally reunited through a course of events. But of course, it ended in warm-fuzzy feelings and a sense of nostalgia.
Marni (Kristen Bell) was Richmond High’s four-eyed, pimpled, brace-face geek, loser, outcast, what have you. The one girl that singly-handedly ruined her high school experience, Joanna (Odette Yustman), is engaged to Marni’s brother, Will (James Wolk).
Though it has been years since high school and both Joanna and Marni were completely different people, rivalries are still unsettled. Will, Marni’s complete-opposite of a brother, is unaware of Joanna’s past until, of course, Marni bursts the lovebird’s happy bubble.
After several failed attempts to warn her brother of who Joanna really was, Marni is impressed to unconventionally reveal what was buried away in a time capsule – literally. Long story short, everything comes out in the open creating conflicts between the supposed groom and bride-to-be.
Did I mention that the bride’s aunt (Sigourney Weaver) and groom’s mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) were best friends in high school whose friendship tragically ended? Oh, that and the fact Grandma (Betty White) is an aged cougar consistently searching for prey.
I feel like every aspect, every corner of “You Again” is drenched in over-analyzed drama, creating fillers. There was just too much. Some might think it is funny when you create a hypothetical situation, and adding to it just makes it funnier. That was not the case for “You Again.”
Kristen Bell has yet to prove to me that she can act in the “big-boy” films. Her last project, “When in Rome,” was cheesy and cute but not life-changing. “You Again” had that same impact. Is it a personal preference? Maybe. I would just like to see Kristen do something more mature.
However, she did successfully pull off her depiction of the four-eyed, pimply, brace-face character. Marni’s transformation from loser to vice president of a PR firm was believable as well.
The Megan Fox look-a-like, Joanna, was, unfortunately awful. When she was supposed to be sincerely upset, I thought sarcasm and fake tears were intended. Her devious high school bully role, on the other hand, she portrayed impeccably.
Without the all-star cast to keep my attention, the film would have simply been crap. The constant “stink-eye” bouncing back and forth between the two soon-to-be sisters got really old.
The silent bickering between Weaver and Curtis’ characters, in comparison, was funny because it was so unexpected and done so nonchalantly.
If I had to pick one word to describe “You Again”, it would be cheesy – but that’s what happens when you strive to create a family-friendly film. I’m not saying all magnificent movies have to be rated R, but a lot of the time PG humor is silly and a little outrageous.
This kind of humor usually works better when children are involved, like “Cheaper by the Dozen.” I felt like I was laughing most of the time but the majority of my giggles came from being surprised with the directors choice of action or lack there of and the fact that it hit so close to home. Truth is stranger than fiction.
I left the theater still hungry but there wasn’t dessert. It ends, without giving it away, in a cliché way that almost made me wish I had left just before. It was humorous but only because I went in with very low expectations. If you do the same, you won’t be disappointed.
I like cheesy films but I’d wait until “You Again” comes to the dollar theater.
– anike.pullens@aggiemail.usu.edu