Review of You Again (2010) by Elliot N — 24 May 2011

A movie that is being called the Bride Wars of 2010 will fill most of us with dread. You Again is about a likely to offend as Michael Bay is likely win an Oscar but the result of this harmless and inoffensive comedy and overuse of slapstick is a occasionally boring and intolerable (the sentimental ending is frustrating) comedy that lacks the wit and a certain spark that wins an audience over. You Again wastes a intriguing premise and a talented cast with tedious slapstick.

Marni (Bell) is an ambitious PR executive retuning home only to find out that her brother is marrying a girl who made Marni's life a living hell at high school. However Joanna (Yustman) claims not to remember Marni and Marni is connived that this just an act and decides to reveal Joanna's true colours to the whole family and stop the wedding and also surprise, surprise Aunt Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) and Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) also went to the same school, are rivals.

For the first 30 minutes You Again seems to be, by no means any good but a tolerable and enjoyable film however with the overuse of slapstick, which includes falling over (a lot) bumping heads and competitive dancing (which includes more falling over) and a last act in which apologies are thrown hither and thiver, people kissing and making up, all the fake and soppy sentimentality of it all is rather intolerable and it drives you over the edge, like a mate who constantly complains about seeing his girlfriend/boyfriend. The hangover that is the sentimentality of the final act is what is most frustrating it seems like a forced apology there is no conviction in it all, no belief and nothing to really care about. There is also a feeling that we and the characters have not learnt the lesson that You Again is attempting to teach.

Though of course there are one or two moments of comic talent, there is an amusing cameo from Dwayne Johnson, you know the bloke with shoulder muscles the size of Bournemouth, and one or two amusing lines. 'She looks computer generated and 'Who dressed you? The Great Depression?' the latter one is the funniest line in the whole film. However, overall, You Again is over populated with slapstick comedy, lacklustre jokes and very few interesting performances. The jokes range from average to abysmal, Gail has an incident with a pipe, Marni falls over onto ant pit, Marni gets her legs tangled and Ramona and Gail do some more falling over but this time into a pool of water. That really is the level of the films humour, just a whole story of head injuries, falling over and cat fighting. The slapstick humour elements will not look out of place on Chucklevision. You Again is hardly a film worth caring about, which is why the half assed attempt at dealing with the subject of bullying never really bothers you a great deal. Marni, in her school days, is subjected to a chorus of We are the Champions (great song) and being called 'moo' her initials spell moo, inventive this bullies, aren't they? You Again does slightly redeem itself in the very final minute, a moment of rare but inspired genius.

The performances are efficient but not enough to heighten the quality of proceedings. The cast all perform to the best of their abilities but the below average script is a huge barrier that limits the actors performances. However Betty White is great as Grandma Bunny, she has one decent joke about Facebook 'and the Twitter.' Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Bell and Odette Yustman and all subjected to slapstick comedy and have very little chance to shine in their respective roles. It's a shame that these talented comedy actors had very little chance to showcase the comedic talents. Kristin Chenoweth hams up the screen with her annoying and loud performance. Meanwhile Victor Garber and Jimmy Wolk (as father and son respectively) are totally forgettable. Ben (Billy Unger) is given one or two lines that provide a weak laugh, so it's not all bad. But (and this is a big but)It's nigh on impossible to sympathise with Marni and her plight as the subject of bullying is taken so lightly that we never get to the heart of the matter and we are rarely engaged in her attempt for revenge and we hardly are fully behind her in doing so.

Overall, You Again will never live long in the memory because it gets boring very quickly and at best it is average but it's a harmless comedy that will offend absolutely nobody. You Again occasionally has its moments. It's a Disney films so the sentimental ending could have been seen from a mile away but that still does not make it any less bearable. To be honest the after the ending you do well not to vomit in repulsion, however without this soppy sentimentality it's not all bad. It's a family movie, the younger kids will love the slapstick the adults less so and it's really worth your time getting all worked up about it.

2/5.

P.S If I mentioned falling over a lot it's because there is a lot of falling over.