Review of Never Been Kissed (1999) by Adrienne L — 26 Mar 2011

Yes, its a silly little movie. But its also quite beautiful. Of all the films i've seen of Drew Barrymore's over the years this remains my favourite role of hers to date. The movie itself is fun, but hardly mesmerizing. It was the first picture Drew also produced. I feel like there is a lot of her in it.

An undercover journalist (Barrymore) gets her big break going back to high school to report on what goes on there for a cover feature at her newspaper. Instead she ends of reliving her horrendeous existence as a tortured outcast all over again. In a series of somewhat humerous flashbacks we see Josie as a cluelessly unhappy and overweight girl. She was humiliated by a cruel boy she had a not-so-secret crush on. He pelted her with eggs before the prom. She never really recovered from the experience.

The second time around Josie meets a mysterious boy who reminds her of her high school tormentor. But her crush this time around is clearly on her english teacher( Micahel Vartan). They have wonderful on-screen chemistry. Sparks begin to fly, but he thinks she's 17.

Eventually, after befriending the school 'geeks' Josie finds herself being courted by the 'clone guy' and hanging with the shallow bitchy girls in his click. She loses her purpose and repeatedly fumbles on her job. Eventually her brother (played gratingly by David Arquette) rescues her from oblivion but not before her superiors tell her to go after the teacher as her cover story.

Reluctantly she does as she's told and chaos ensues. There's dog food, a meltdown, and a tacky prom scene. Plus the teacher realizes Josie's true identity (not to mention her intended story topic). He's humiliated. She's deeply embarrassed. Skip a few scenws and they end up kissing on a baseball mound in front of a packed crowd. Credits role.

Cameos: Director Gary Marshall, Molly Shannon. Pre- fame: Jessica Alba and James Franco. Not too bad Drew!!

A personal favourite.