The opening scenes of She's All That suggest that, just as Clueless reinterpreted Jane Austen's Emma, this particular sunbleached Californian high school comedy will be taking on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. It doesn't quite work out that way, and Robert Iscove's film doesn't have the smarts and effervescence of Clueless,but it's still a good-humoured, stylish take on the teen romantic comedy, with likeable performances from its young cast - many of them familiar from their appearances in such recent fare as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Halloween H2O.
Freddie Prinze Jr plays the golden boy of his class, unexpectedly dumped by his queen-bitch girlfriend (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) and suckered into betting that he can transform bespectacled, serious Rachael Leigh Cook into prom queen material within six weeks. Cue the inevitable will-they-won't-they romantic arc, handled with an unusual amount of wit and subtlety by Iscove, and enhanced by spirited support from the likes of Anna Paquin and Matthew Lillard.