Never Been Kissed

reviewed by Vivian Rose, age 14, from US

"Never Been Kissed" is a pathetic excuse for a film that is painful to watch for its vexatious main character, pitiful plot, and miserable attempts at levity.

Drew Barrymore, who is so nauseatingly sweet that she would be better off in a Pepto-Bismol commercial, plays the incredibly geeky copy editor Josie (or, as she was dubbed in high school, Josie-Grossie). Desperate to write for the paper rather than remaining a copy editor, Josie begs for an assignment until she is sent back to school, assigned to do a story entitled "My Semester in High School". So she must pretend to be a seventeen year-old in order to uncover information for an expose.

Once back in high school, Josie finds herself in the same situation as before: as an unhip geek who is tormented by the popular kids.

"Never Been Kissed" drove me crazy. I wanted to smack Josie for making such an obnoxious target of herself; she overdoes the nerdiness to an unbelievable point. I also found it incredibly frustrating to watch her smile and fawn her way through situations; at one point, I thought I'd scream if she gave that pathetic, darling little smile one more time. Gag me, this film has more saccharin than a three-liter bottle of diet cola.

Also, the abundance of these "high school" movies has become increasingly tiresome lately. Where in the world do Hollywood producers get the idea that this is the kind of stuff people (including teenagers!) want to see? Most offer the same uninteresting characters, and end up exactly the same way. I swear I saw the whole movie when I saw the previews for "Never Been Kissed".

My rating: 1 star