Big Screen Peter: You Again

Editor’s note: Peter Lewis has agreed to use whatever it is you call his writing style to provide some measure of analysis to those folks who still go to a theater to see a movie. Next week will be that Facebook movie, “The Social Network.” It stars Jesse Eisenberg and is directed by David Fincher.

review by Peter Lewis

Perhaps my memory has already faded at the ripe age of 27.

Or perhaps my own high school experience in Fort Smith wasn’t quite normal, because it certainly looked nothing like the conception Hollywood has of the high school experience. Nothing was quite that villainous, nor quite that sexy. Yet, time and again we are bombarded with films that portray devilish fantasy of life for the “normal” high schooler. True normalcy, you see, is just too boring. It doesn’t quite sell like a good, over-the-top caricature does.

The same apparently holds true for gender roles.

“You Again,” a nominal romantic comedy, showcased one of the more reductionist visions of femininity to be displayed on the silver screen. Written by Moe Jelline, the film is not only a 90-minute parade of stereotyping and marginal originality, but of unparalleled asininity.

Directed by Andy Fickman, “You Again” stars such Hollywood heavyweights as Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as younger starlets Kristen Bell and Odette Yustman.

The story centers around Marni (Bell), a powerful corporate warrior who once was the gawky outcast of high school. Universally picked on, Marni views her past as something to escape (hence her escape from her hometown and out into the power-broking world of PR).

On the plane ride home for her brother’s wedding, Marni realizes that the woman about to become her sister-in-law is none other than Joanna, the ruthless potentate that made high school a living hell for Marni. To make this cute little trope cuter, the creators decided to construct past high school drama between Marni’s mother Gail and Joanna’s Aunt Ramona. Cue illogical and over the top irrationality by every female in the film.

It’s unfortunate, really. The premise of the film holds such potential. Instead of honestly mining the depressing realities of our most vulnerable age, the film is lost in an inert and unoriginal depiction of femininity. It’s unbounded display of schlocky values and disjointed misogyny is depressing.

While one should never advocate such misogyny, certain sins can easily be forgiven in cinema with the right amount of comedy or calculated insight. To its eternal detriment, You Again features not a single moment resembling anything close to comedy. Nor does it feature anything close to insight. There is no resolution. 

“You Again” is a limp and puerile plate of flapdoodle.  Even at 90 minutes, it seems to stretch on forever.

• You Again is playing at the Carmike 14 and the Malco Cinema 12 in Fort Smith, and the Malco Van Buren Cinema. Link here for time and ticket info.

Feedback
Feel free to contact Peter Lewis at [email protected]

You can also track Peter at his Web site.