He’s All That




he's all thatDirector Mark Waters
Starring Addison Rae & Tanner Buchanan
Rated M
Score 2/6

An influencer specializing in makeovers bets she can transform an unpopular classmate into prom king.

Okay before we get into things there some stuff that needs to be unpacked, during filming He’s all that was met with a small amount of controversy surrounding a COVID testing station in Los Angeles.
Both Matthew Lillard and Rachel Leigh Cook who stared in the 1999 movie She’s All That returned but in different roles. It gave me a bit of a chuckle when I noticed that the poster for He’s All That was similar to She’s All That and the remixed version of Kiss Me is worth a listen. For those of you who might be interested in movie adaptations of Pygmalion to my knowledge only on two other occasions has a male character been the subject of the makeover in 2013 in The Makeover starring Julia Stiles and David Walton and in 1983 in Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.

Was it a good decision to remake (or reimagine depending on how you look at it) She’s all That? I dunno, though in He’s All That’s defence it has been over 20 years. Now I accept that I am not in the target demographic for this movie because I found it very hard to keep a straight face for the first 45 minutes (I wonder if any teenagers had the same problem) because the whole thing felt awkward to watch. Apparently, this was Addison Rae’s debut live-action film role and judging by her performance I might have invoke the Rule of 5 (for those of you unaware of the Rule of 5, basically there’s 5 chances before I decide if I like or hate a novice actor. Usually somebody with fewer than 5 film credits). Tanner Buchanan’s portrayal of Cameron Kweller had a couple of good moments and ultimately, he gave the kind of cliched performance that you would expect from this type of role. I kind of enjoyed Annie Jacobs’ performance as Cameron’s best friend Nisha. The obligatory makeover scene though cliched was fun in a silly sort of way. He’s All That felt a little bland in places and in the lead up to the prom at the end of the movie I could have sworn that the filmmakers where about to forget what movie they where remaking and where about to venture 10 Things I hate About You, territory. The dance off during the prom scene came across as almost violent to the point of making me think of West Side Story.

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