She's The Man DVD Review

"She's The Man" reviews

DVD

She's The Man

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-07-27 15:00:22

Provider

MRIB

DVD Review

Ten or so years ago director Amy Hickerling hit on the ingenious idea of selling Jane Austen's Emma to a new audience, resulting in the Alicia Silverstone vehicle Clueless. Unwittingly, Hickerling had kickstarted a new franchise since, following The Taming of The Shrew's transformation into 10 Things I Hate About You, here's Andy Fickman's reworking of Shakespeare's gender-bending comedy Twelfth Night.

The film's star is Viola (Amanda Bynes), who pretends to be her twin brother in order to play football after the girls' team at her school is cruelly disbanded. How she pulls this off, though, is a mystery, given that she's both considerably lighter and four inches shorter than the actor James Kirk, who plays her sibling Sebastian. Still, Bynes is adept at physical comedy, studying the gait of boys as they walk down her street and wincing when the ball hits her in her nether regions, articulating a pain that she doesn't feel. And when the team's coach (former Wimbledon FC hard man Vinnie Jones) organises a practice game between shirts and skins, she is convincing as to why she should be a shirt.

Viola's roommate is Duke (Channing Tatum), who is attracted to Olivia (Laura Ramsey), though Olivia is fond of Sebastian/Viola, who for her part is attracted to Duke because of his sensitivity. Confused? Well, don't be because, in this kind of film, you wouldn't bet against everything turning out okay in the end.

Special features include: commentaries, deleted scenes, Making The Man, The Troupe, What Makes A Man and Making Up The Man featurettes. Cast photo album, gag reel and David Lichens music video.

Copyright © MRIB 2006.