You Again

Stars: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, Victor Garber, James Wolk, Betty White

Director: Andy Fickman

Give Disney their due undeterred by the romcom turkey that was When in Rome they have showcased its star Bell again, this time in a comedy thats sadly lacking in laughs.

At her all-American clique-and-cheerleader infested high school, nerdy acne-faced Bells life is made a living hell by beautiful and popular pupil Yustman, and genre clichés come thick and fast, just like the jocks. Fast forward and Bell, learning her brother is about to marry Yustman, sets out to wreck the romance

That limp narrative strand is echoed when Yustmans aunt Weaver turns up and realises Bells mother Curtis was responsible for her hard times at high school, triggering off another strand of misfiring jokes.

If you were bullied at school, you might sympathise with Bell and Curtis. I did on that level but the dearth of witty dialogue or genuinely amusing situations soon froze my face and had me looking at my watch every 30 seconds or so.

Bell tries and fails, Yustman relies on her looks, Curtis and Weaver should sue their respective agents, and Garber falls victim to the soggy screenplay, leaving guest star Dwayne Johnson (please dont call him The Rock") to raise a smile as an Air Marshal while fellow guest Patrick Duffy must have wished himself back in the shower in Dallas and discovering You Again was just a dream.

And, adding to the misogynistic lack of fun, White embarrasses herself and the audience as an eminently irritating granny whose eviction from the film would have raised cheers from the audience and the actors alike. Director Fickman should have sued the scenarists: oops, I forgot - he co-produced this tosh.

Alan Frank

USA 2010. UK Distributor: Walt Disney. Technicolor.
101 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: U.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 11 Nov 2010