Review: Never Been Kissed

There's something about a beautiful woman who is not afraid to make a fool of herself. In being flawed, in being one of the mortals -- she achieves perfection. The best and still peerless example of this was Carole Lombard, wickedly sexy standing still; even more so sporting a fat lip, a compress tied atop her head and swinging at Fredric March in Nothing Sacred. Or romping through My Man Godfrey as a daffy socialite gaga over William Powell's suave homeless man turned family butler.

Every so often, a beautiful actress will reveal her wacky side and critics (including yours truly) will most likely liken her to a modern-day Carole Lombard. Cameron Diaz was the most recent recipient of this comparison for her turn in There's Something About Mary. Drew Barrymore makes a royal fool of herself in her latest film, Never Been Kissed, but it would be incorrect to label her as her generation's Lombard. For one thing, her resume isn't chock full of comedic roles. For another, she doesn't bite like Lombard does. But Barrymore doesn't mean to bite, she means to beam and when Barrymore beams, this crazy mess of a world is turned right.

At 25, Josie Gellar (Drew Barrymore) is the youngest copy editor at the Chicago Sun Times. She's the type often described as "mousy" or "a wallflower." One doesn't notice her and, as nice as she is, sometimes one doesn't want to. Josie is all about order and control and can't really seem to sustain a normal conversation. She does, at least, have a friend in the flirtatious Anita (the invaluable Molly Shannon) and a mentor in her editor Gus (John C. Reilly).

She confides to Anita that she's never truly been kissed. She's had kisses but not the kind where everything else fades into a haze and it's just you and him and the kiss. It hasn't happened yet but maybe someday. And maybe someday Josie can finally convince Gus to assign her a real story. That maybe someday becomes definitely today when she's told to spend a semester in high school and come back with a story. Josie's never been so excited -- she practically hyperventilates at this good turn of events -- until her brother Rob (David Arquette) reminds her of her high school days when she was overweight, had braces, didn't look as if she washed her hair, and everyone called her Josie Grossie.

On the first day of her second life as a teenager, it's Josie Grossie all over again. Donned in a ridiculous, feather-trimmed outfit, Josie suffers one humiliation after another. The trio of cool girls (Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton and Jordan Ladd) shun her and she embarasses herself with the coolest guy in class (Jeremy Jordan), whom she instantly falls for. Things do look up. She's befriended by Aldys (Leelee Sobieski), a brain whose gang Josie is embraced by. Then there's Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan, highly appealing), the Shakespearean teacher who really touches her heart and soul.

All is going well but Gus isn't interested in her suggested articles on what's really in the cafeteria cole slaw and the like. He wants sex and scandal and that means ingratiating herself with the popular kids. Not an easy task. Like she tells her brother of her first go at high school: "All I wanted was to be accepted and they tortured me." And what will happen to the blossoming attraction between Josie and Sam when he discovers her true identity? He already knows how far over the line he's stepped by spending so much talking with her, but he just can't help it. "When you're my age," he promises, "guys will be lined up around the block for you." "You're just saying that because you're my teacher," Josie blushes. "Well, I probably shouldn't say it because I am your teacher," he realizes.

Never Been Kissed follows the formula that worked like gangbusters for Barrymore in Ever After: the beauty with brains who must overcome obstacles and captures her prince on her own terms. They even manage to garb Barrymore in medieval dress -- for the prom. The formula works because of Barrymore. With her dewy fragility and soft voluptuousness, she's like a baby Monroe. Without her, Never Been Kissed would be just another teen flick for audiences to ingest. I do wish more had been done for Shannon and Reilly, whose characters conjoin romantically. However, as in most films out on the market, the adults can have their moments in the sun as long as the teens remain front and center.

Never Been Kissed

Directed by: Raja Gosnell

Written by: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein

Starring: Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Leelee Sobieski, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, Jordan Ladd, James Franco, Jeremy Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Cress Williams, Garry Marshall