Du schon wieder

I just don't get the bad and nasty reviews on here. We saw the movie last night and thought it was very funny and cute. This is not a film to be taken seriously it is supposed to be farce and it was nice to unplug from the real world for two hours and just have some fun. Jamie Lee and Sigourney where great in their respective roles and the rest of the cast was good especially the young actor who played "Tim" he was great and the ending is funny. If your looking for some "I don't want to think for a while" time this is good afternoon flick to sit back, eat popcorn and watch. You may want to wait until the DVD comes out but this is not in anyway a bad movie. Considering the violent trash 3D overload crap Hollywood has been vomiting onto the screen this past year "You Again" was a breath of fresh air.

(Synopsis) Marni (Kristen Bell), a new Vice President of a large Public Relations Agency, is returning home for her brother Will's (James Wolk) wedding. Marni discovers that his bride Joanna (Odette Yustman) is her former arch nemesis in high school who made her life a living hell. Joanna is now an angel in her brother's eyes, absolutely not the memories that Marni has of her tormentor. All of this is compounded by the fact that the bride's wealthy Aunt Romona (Sigourney Weaver) flies into town and comes face to face with Marni's mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), who it turns out has an old high school score to settle with Gail. Marni must protect her brother by showing him Joanna's true colors before he makes the biggest mistake in his life. The claws are about to come out.

(My Comment) The movie itself is not that appealing as a romantic comedy, but it had a great female cast. The storyline is based on a small premise that what happens in high school lives with you forever which is absurd. Kristen Bell's performance as the pathetic pimply face girl with low self esteem, pressed into getting revenge, was right on target, and Odette Yustman as her rival was also good. I think the writers wasted the great talents of Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis. However, Betty White steals every scene she is in. Patrick Duffy and someone else (I won't say) make a cameo appearance. After about 45 minutes, the story was a little boring, but it picked up by the end. The lesson that is taught by this story is that you must learn from your past and everyone is entitled to a second chance, "maybe"? (Touchstone Pictures, Run Time 1:45, Rated PG)(4/10)

If nothing else, you have to like this for the high-powered cast that was put together. With well known stars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Victor Garber and even Betty White you know there will be quality performances. The lead actress is the lesser known Kristen Bell (recently seen in Couples Retreat) and there are a number of cameos from the likes of Patrick Duffy and one who pops up for only a moment at the end who I guess I won't name since the cameo is uncredited and should probably come as a surprise. With those names, this couldn't be a disaster, and it wasn't.

The story has its moments. At times, it's actually very funny. Bell plays a former high school geek whose brother is suddenly getting married to the girl who made her teenage years a complete misery and whose wedding she decides she wants to break up. Meanwhile her mom (Curtis) discovers that the bride's aunt (Weaver) was someone she had a falling out with in high school. The unnamed cameo at the end is a continuation on the theme, with the mystery cameo being someone Betty White's character had a falling out with in high school, so these families have a 3 generation long feud to overcome to make this marriage work. To me, I thought most of the laughs occurred in two settings - when Curtis visits Weaver at her hotel and then at the rehearsal dinner. There are a lot of laughs in those scenes.

Unfortunately, although there are some good laughs in this, there aren't enough laughs in this. In fact, sometimes the movie gets downright heavy and far too serious; at times the characters seem to be truly hurtful to each other in a less than fun way, and the movie seems to forget that it's a comedy. It does have its moments. It just needed to have more.

"You Again" was somewhat of a nice surprise. I had expected it to be a mediocre comedy, but it turned out to be quite nice.

The story told in the movie is very captivating and you easily get yourself immersed into the situation, the characters and the story itself. The story is quite funny as well, you have Marni, who was bullied by Joanna during high school, and now years later, Joanna is about to marry Marni's brother, Will. Apparently Joanna doesn't remember Marni from school, but then things take a drastic change and things escalate...

The people acting in "You Again" were doing a good job, and they had managed to put together a really nice ensemble of people to fill out the roles. Kristen Bell, playing Marni, was doing a really good job in the movie. But of course, actresses like Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis also always do a nice job, and they were great in their roles. Furthermore, there were some other nice names on the list, such as Betty White, Victor Garber, and so on.

Throughout the movie, as the story progressed, there were more and more hilarious scenes, and they worked well. The movie had enough comedy and drama in it to be interesting, not really falling into a teenage comedy genre, which I had expected it to be.

"You Again" is a good choice if you are in for an evening with funny movies, because it is not just a comedy movie, it also has a deeper and nice storyline, not just intending to make you laugh.

FIrstly on a positive note it is good to see the lovely ladies. Sigourney has a role that's actually suited to her - she hasn't really done this kind of high powered woman since "Working Girl". Jamie is a bit frightful looking but she always was a bit old looking for her age. Betty White has a small role. The leads are likable and attractive. Kristen Bell is good as the central tormented girl - she's quite versatile. Odette Yustman is quite foxy as the mean girl. She is a both attractive and good actress better than her lookalike Megan Fox. James Wolk is good as the clueless object of her affections. Victor Garber is a bit out of place. The main problem is the dialog isn't well written. The words aren't witty or clever and quite cringe inducing. The painful scenes are dragged out and there is more unpleasantness than comedy. In fact the funny moments are few and far between for a comedy. Even a food cast can't keep it from being boring from about half way on. Watch it if you like any of the leads but prepared to be disappointed.