Romancefest 2016: Never Been Kissed

I worked at a movie theater when 1999's NEVER BEEN KISSED was set to come out, so I saw the trailer a billion times. Although I've never seen it until now, it's one of those ones I feel like I've seen because I can clearly hear Drew Barrymore triumphantly yelling, "I'm not Josie Grossie anymore!" I'm also very familiar with the premise because I can also clearly hear Garry Marshall proclaiming, "Josie Gellar, prepare to return to High School!" Or whatever he says. I forget. Sorta.

Point is, now I've seen it. And it's good! Maybe Drew Barrymore should be the Matron Saint of R-fest or something. She just keeps knockin' 'em out of the park. Fortunately there's even more Drew Barrymore flicks to come this year.

Barrymore stars as an awkward copy editor who had an embarrassing high school experience and takes on an undercover high school assignment at her newspaper in the hopes of finally becoming a real live reporter. At first she's pumped for the chance but then she realizes she's just as awkward amongst the high schoolers as she ever was.

Luckily her brother, David Arquette, is on hand to go undercover with her. He'd like to reignite his squandered baseball career, but in the mean time hopes to help Barrymore become popular so she can get the dirt on the cool kids and provide her newspaper with the story of the century! Or something.

The movie's touching because Barrymore is irresistible and you want her to not be sad. The main surface story is about Barrymore's chances for romance with the cool teacher (Michael Vartan) but the heart of the movie lies with Barrymore's awakening and coming into her own as someone who is not ashamed of herself and realizes how bad the popular kids suck.

I'm beginning to think it might be key for romantic comedies to have killer supporting casts because all the best ones do. This one's no exception. Of course the MVPs are Barrymore and Arquette but we've also got John C. Reilly as Barrymore's boss, Jessica Alba as the lead "cool girl," Leelee Sobieski as the nerd Barrymore befriends and more! There's even Garry Marshall but I done said that already.

So the thing about Barrymore is that she's basically the perfect star. She's pretty, likable, projects intelligence and can nail comedy. And in this movie she nails it hard: her own physical performance is probably funnier (and more touching) than anything in the actual screenplay. So, good casting, guys.

Also I want to be friends with David Arquette.