Like most things on this blog, comparison posts is something I said I would do and then never got around to doing.
I remember my Mum giving me a copy of She's All That when I was maybe 13, and I loved it. So, when I'm scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch, and adding copious amounts of movies to my list, to watch later, I stumbled across He's All That, a 2021 remake. And get this, it's also a gender flipped remake.
So, I decided, what a perfect excuse to do a comparison post – to rewatch She's All That, then watch He's All That, and make the post as I go!
Let us start with She's All That!
Soccer team captain Zack (Freddie Prinze Jr) is one of the most popular guys at his High School, and he's a little upset when his girlfriend Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) dumps him so she can go out with a TV star (Matthew Lillard). Nevertheless, he insists that she is replaceable and makes a bet with his best friend Dean that he could turn any girl at the school into a Prom Queen. Dean takes the bet and nominates miserablist wierdo Laney (Rachael Leigh Cook) as the lucky girl. Undaunted, our hero sets to work...
(I don't think it's currently available on Netflix, or Amazon Prime, unfortunately.)
My Review
This movie is, in my opinion, timeless. It doesn't matter if you watched this in the late 1990s, when it first came out, or if you watch it in the modern day, the effect is still the same, and the message still comes across.
On the first day back at school after Spring break, Zach learns that his girlfriend, Taylor, has left him for a guy called Brock Hudson, who she met while she was away. Zach doesn't let her get him down for too long, and makes a bet with his best friend – he can make any girl as popular as Taylor, and he can prove it by turning an outcast into prom queen. When his friends choose Laney Boggs as the girl, Zach certainly has his work cut out in getting through to the closed off artist.
I remember first watching this film, and hating Zach, and loving Laney. I felt like Zach was pestering her, when she just wanted to be left alone, and that Laney deserved better than him. But, in the end, even Zach doesn't really know what he's doing, and even at 18, when people are considered adults, they still don't know what they're doing. What Zach knows, is popularity, and when Taylor humiliates him, there is a sense that he has lost something, something that he wants back – a hot girl on his arm, and people to look at him and not think about how he was so publicly dumped.
There is a certain quality to this film that makes you know it is a 90s film (apart from the clothing and the hairdos, that is). It is a romantic comedy aimed at teens, but it's something that everyone can watch, and everyone will be able to find at least some joy in watching it. There is a joke for all, and with the overall message of 'don't judge a book by it's cover', everyone can benefit from the lessons it shows. Laney may be a struggling artist, always wearing paint covered clothes, talking about doom and gloom, and with glasses perched on her nose, but that is only what the outside perspective sees. Once you get to know Laney, you quickly learn that she isn't just the dorky girl picked as a bet, she is a girl who looks after her brother and father, who works hard at everything she does, and puts everyone else above herself.
And yes, it is a romantic comedy from the 90s. It is not going to be perfect, and it is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who watch it and fall in love, it will be a movie to put on repeat.
And now, let's move onto He's All That!
I'm not going to lie, I didn't spend long looking for a description of this movie, which is why we've ended up with the very short one we have. I can't find this film on Amazon, I think it's only available on Netflix. That might not be true, but if you want to watch it, it is on Netflix!
My Review!
I have now, officially, watched this entire movie three times, on three consecutive evenings. The first two were because I wanted to, the third time was because I wanted to write this directly after watching it to have it fresh in my head (and also because I wanted to).
I'm not going to lie, I didn't really watch this movie because it was a remake of a film I had already watched, and loved, I mainly clicked on it because the first thing I saw was Tanner Buchanan. I have looked at some other reviews of this movie, and a lot of them are being overly critical because of Addison Rae, who plays Padgett. I actually have no idea who she is, outside of this film, so I can't judge anything about that (not that I would anyway – it's wholly unfair to judge a film by what the cast do outside of acting).
When influencer, Padgett Sawyer, learns that her boyfriend is cheating on her, she loses it live on camera, and goes viral. Unfortunately, that sort of behaviour isn't what her sponsors want to see, and she loses the sponsorship she was relying on to pay for her college tuition, not coming from wealth in a town where to fit in, you must be rich. In a desperate bid to try and get over the embarrassing moment everyone is talking about, Padgett makes a bet – that she can take any loser from her school, and make him into prom king. And her friends pick Cameron Kweller, the school outcast who no one knows anything about.
This film is incredibly cheesy at times, but it's a romantic comedy about a beauty influencer trying to give a makeover to a socially awkward photographer, without him knowing, so a little bit of cheesiness is unavoidable. Once again, I clicked on this movie for Tanner Buchanan, and I can definitely say, I was not disappointed. And his character loves horses? Sounds like we'd make a great match, if I'm being honest!
There was one extra character I must say, in particular, I loved, and that was Cameron's grandmother. She sits in the background while Cameron has conversations with Padgett and his little sister, Brin, and chimes in with less than appropriate comments every now and again. She was certainly a bonus to this movie, and I would love to know just how often she embarrasses her grandchildren with the things she says.
This movie has a message about being true to yourself, and not hiding behind lies and playing make-believe with your life. With the age of social media, anyone can create whatever persona they would like online, and no one would know any different. But living a lie can destroy your life, and coming clean about who you are, who you truly are, behind all the photos, and the posts, and the edits, is the most important thing to do if you want to start living your life how you want to live it.
Comparison
First off, I absolutely loved that they brought back Rachael Leigh Cook (Laney) and Matthew Lillard (Brock Hudson) for He's All That. Granted, they take on different roles, but to carry them forward, to include two incredibly recognisable actors from She's All That in the remake, tied He's All That into the original, and showed that, while things change, and actors play different roles, the movies are still one and the same in terms of the story idea.
Obviously, there are some stark differences with the two movies. First off, making a modern remake of a 90s film is difficult enough, without trying to wrap the story around the technology that consumes the everyday lives of school students, not to mention trying to find a way to include social media to, not hinder, but add to the story. As well as that, switching the genders of all the characters? A lot was taken on in trying to replicate, and update, She's All That.
And while the overall story was mostly replicated, He's All That seemed less like a remake and more like someone had taken the idea of a bet to turn someone into a prom queen/king, and taken the characters, and created their own modernised story around just that one aspect. The characters are all there, Cameron (Laney) has a younger sibling, and Padgett (Zach) is dealing with personal issues while trying to maintain the persona that everyone associates with them, but the story itself is very different.
However, while She's All That is timeless, He's All That is clearly not. With the inclusion of so many things relevant to today's society, and particularly the popular social media platforms that people use on a regular basis, this movie will, unfortunately, grow old very quickly. In five years, the way social media is used will be entirely different than it is now, and this movie will no longer be relevant to the world of the viewer.
That being said, though, He's All That is a film that, like I have said, I really enjoyed watching, and I have watched it multiple times. It is difficult to properly compare two movies that are so vastly different, even though they are both built on the bones of the same story. The thing about them both, is they both carry a clear message of acceptance, of accepting who you are, and of accepting people for who they are, without trying to change them, but rather getting to know them, past what they look like. People might look one way, but act another, and both movies tell you to pause before you judge someone purely on how they look, because inside, they might be someone that you absolutely have to know.
And done!
Sorry this is quite long, it turns out that when you are writing reviews for two different movies, and then a whole other review to compare the two, it turns into a bit of an essay!
Have I mentioned Tanner Buchanan in this post? Yes?! I might have to rewatch Cobra Kai.
That's it for now.
Bye!
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