You Again (2010)

You Again is an unfunny comedy that fails in about every way possible. The movie starts off showing Kristen Bell attempting (and failing) to be a stereotypical nerd. She gets bullied by Odette Yustman.

And by bullied, I mean that Odette calls her Moo. Not kidding.

OK, so sometime later, Marni (Kristen Bell) is a publicist, because in rom-coms these people are always publicists. She finds out that her brother Will (James Wolk) is getting married. Also, Will is supposed to be older, but he certainly doesn't look it. It turns out that he's getting married to Joanna (Odette Yustman). To make matters worse, Joanna's aunt Romona (Sigourney Weaver) was rivals with Marni's mom Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) back in high school. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! So what follows is a series of unfunny pratfalls and other crappy slapstick. James Wolk is a pretty bland actor. Odette Yustman was awful. Kristen Bell was so-so. We also have Betty White and Victor Garber, but they aren't given much to do. The best performances are from Weaver and Curtis, but they're still not that great.

I get it. It's a romantic comedy. It's gonna be predictable. blah blah blah. But it's neither romantic nor funny. It's boring as hell. It'd dull as hell. It's stupid. It's irritating. All the characters are unlikable except Will and the actor playing him couldn't act.

Then we get one of the stupidest endings that I've ever seen. I hated this movie. 2nd worst movie of 2010. Worst movie Kristen Bell has done. Worst movie any of these cast members have done. It's not funny. It's not charming. It's not cute. It's not engaging. It's just stupid. Skip You Again.

Fmovies: This is a great end of summer comedy. Even with a PG rating, it has laughs for all ages thanks to the great acting of its cast. Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis, and Kristen Bell and Odette Yustman act brilliantly opposite of each other.

There are some very funny and unexpected cameos as well as great supporting acting, especially by the love sick and a little mentally sick character, Tim. I'd say this is probably the best date film out in theaters now. Betty White steals most of the scenes she's in which is no crime by me. This movie is best enjoyed if you're up for something a little silly. Then again, when is a comedy ever supposed to be taken super seriously? You Again is definitely worth a look, especially as a date movie or family movie.

OMG!! No pun intended. People don't really act like that in real life do they? I never leave reviews for movies and just couldn't help myself. I expected so much more out of some of these actors/actresses. It was so horrible. The plot was stupid and predictable. The directing and script was ridiculous. My husband said he really wished that Joanna had just apologized in the very beginning so the movie could be over. I have to agree. I realize it was meant to be somewhat comical, but it failed on so many levels. I will definitely have trouble looking at any of the people in this movie the same again. It will resonate with me throughout any film they are ever in again.

You Again fmovies. Marni (Kristen Bell), like many of the rest of us, had a tough time in high school. Among her chief tormentors was JJ (Odette Yustman), the captain of the cheerleading squad and all around snob. But Marni bucks up and uses the bullying she experienced as a goad toward achievement after graduation. Whatever her motivations, Marni's achievements can't be questioned: She's named a vice president of her public relations firm just before she heads home for her older brother's wedding.

Marni and her brother Will (Jimmy Wolk) have always been close, and she's both devastated and furious when she discovers the bride-to-be is none other than her high school nemesis who now answers to the name Joanna. Marni's mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) is sympathetic, but tells Marni that high school is in the past and she needs to move on. That advice comes easily to Gail until she discovers Joanna's Aunt Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) is her own high school nemesis.

Despite the happy occasion that has gathered the family together, Marni is less than thrilled. After all, JJ wasn't the best of persons in high school, and Marni can't imagine she's changed much! After an awkward reunion and family dinner, Marni and her younger brother Ben decide to do what they can to derail the nuptials.

Kristen Bell is a very pretty girl, and it couldn't have been easy to transform her into the unattractive high school geek that Marni was supposed to have been. Yet make-up artists and Bell's adoption of some less than pretty tics make you believe in the earlier version of Marni. Odette Yustman also does a good job as the pretty, popular girl whose mission in life is to make Marni miserable. Some of the movie's best moments come, though, as the result of the past and present rivalry between Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver. I'd be very surprised if the two of them had less than a ball doing their scenes together because it certainly shows on screen that way.

The story itself is relatively predictable, and the direction, while competent, is nothing special. The script is marred by moments of melodrama that undermine the otherwise marginal believability of the story, and though the actors handle their lines well, even genuine talent isn't enough to overcome some of the things they must say and do. In particular, poor Kristen Chenoweth in a role as the wedding planner—an actress I consider a truly brilliant talent—is stuck in a role where the caricature overwhelms even her formidable abilities. While Betty White (who portrays Marni's Grandma Bunny) is also silly, she, at least, gets away with it.

BOTTOM LINE: You Again is often diverting, and has enough elements of realism in it to make you recall your own high school days (for good or for ill), but it doesn't overcome the limitations imposed on it by its script, or a story that we've all frankly heard before. I was moderately entertained and mildly amused in the theatre, but when the movie was played out, I was less than fulfilled. ADDENDUM: Stay for the credits. Trust me.

POLITICAL NOTES: None.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: You Again is rated PG for "brief mild language and rude behavior." Produced by Touchstone (a Disney-owned company), the largely family-friendly fare is no real surprise. While I wouldn't recommend You Again for really young children (it's not going to hold their interest nor will they understand some of the complications that ensue from various and sundry misundersta

Being a guy, I always wonder, with these slapstick comedies that revolve around women with a wedding as a backdrop, do grown women over the age of 25 really become THIS immature? In "Bride Wars", you see two very attractive women pulling childish pranks on one another in preparation for their respective weddings, and somehow some women went to see that movie in droves. "You Again" received a spanking from major critics, most of whom were male, but actually turned in a profit at the box office.

I'm still really curious to know what women think when they see two women in their 20's pulling mean, callow tricks on each other, then seeing two other women in their 50's, who are attractive for their age I might add, trying to one-up each other while taking dance lessons in preparation for a wedding. Can real life women actually relate to these women on screen? Do they think their antics are funny?

Speaking as a man (whether or not that's important is up to you, the reader), I found these shenanigans ranging from cat fights to forced slapstick comedy neither amusing nor believable. If I saw my Mom acting the way either Jamie Lee Curtis or Sigourney Weaver do on screen, I would get angry, and quick.

But I digress. This movie starts out on a good note showing Marni Olsen (Kristen Bell) in high school with glasses, braces, and a bad case of acne. Although the nerd stereotype is a bit overdone here, somehow Bell succeeds in being unglamorous to the point where we, the audience, feel for her.

Her main tormentor is popular cheerleader J.J. (Odette Yustman), who is smoking hot, but effectively easy to dislike. However, the first mean prank you see pulled on Marni is her being crowd-surfed out of school by a group of jocks, including that mean cheerleader. Marni seems to be angry at J.J. and only J.J., somehow forgetting that she wasn't the only one in the crowd.

Fast forward less than a decade later, and Marni has lost the braces and glasses, is a successful P.R. executive, and looks as hot as she did in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008). Her post-high school transformation is one many people would envy, but none of that matters when she finds out that her older brother is about to marry J.J., who is now known as Joanne.

Marni's mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) tries to convince Marni to put the past behind her. That is, of course, until it's revealed that Joanne's aunt is Ramona (Sigourney Weaver), a woman who used to be "best friends" with Gail in high school. However, you know that unresolved animosity brews underneath the facade of these two women when a flashback reveals Ramona pushing Gail into a pool. Why she did this, the movie never really explains.

The rest of the movie remains laugh-less as Kristen Bell seems to trip over herself and bang her head into several different people and objects, almost as if she's Curly from The Three Stooges. One scene shows her falling off a running path into a nest of red ants. Her love interest tries to help her, but their heads bump into one another. Nuk nuk nuk!

Of course, when Marni and Joanne trade blows, there is the inevitable catfight with dialogue so vapid and uninspired. When Joanne throws a dish at Marni, she replies, "Ooh, kitty likes to scratch!" I don't know what other movie I've heard that phrase in, but it's probably because it has been in at least six other films.

With such hackneyed verbal taunts comes a fight that

(Synopsis) Marni (Kristen Bell), a new Vice President of a large Public Relations Agency, is returning home for her brother Will's (James Wolk) wedding. Marni discovers that his bride Joanna (Odette Yustman) is her former arch nemesis in high school who made her life a living hell. Joanna is now an angel in her brother's eyes, absolutely not the memories that Marni has of her tormentor. All of this is compounded by the fact that the bride's wealthy Aunt Romona (Sigourney Weaver) flies into town and comes face to face with Marni's mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), who it turns out has an old high school score to settle with Gail. Marni must protect her brother by showing him Joanna's true colors before he makes the biggest mistake in his life. The claws are about to come out.

(My Comment) The movie itself is not that appealing as a romantic comedy, but it had a great female cast. The storyline is based on a small premise that what happens in high school lives with you forever which is absurd. Kristen Bell's performance as the pathetic pimply face girl with low self esteem, pressed into getting revenge, was right on target, and Odette Yustman as her rival was also good. I think the writers wasted the great talents of Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis. However, Betty White steals every scene she is in. Patrick Duffy and someone else (I won't say) make a cameo appearance. After about 45 minutes, the story was a little boring, but it picked up by the end. The lesson that is taught by this story is that you must learn from your past and everyone is entitled to a second chance, "maybe"? (Touchstone Pictures, Run Time 1:45, Rated PG)(4/10)