Slap Her, She's French!

I remember seeing the trailer for this movie a few years ago and wanting to see it. It was originally supposed to come out in the summer of 2002, but ended up sitting on the shelf for a while. A few months ago, I caught it on the ABC Family Channel under the title SHE GETS WHAT SHE WANTS. While SLAP HER...SHE'S FRENCH is a much better title, I can see why it was changed. I guess it's not very PC, but then again, the movie itself isn't very PC, which is one of the reasons I liked it. It wasn't afraid to be a bit edgy. In addition to being edgy, the film is also quite over-the-top at times. While some may be bothered by the over-the-top scenes, I enjoyed them. They fit in well with the tone of the picture.

This is the the kind of movie MEAN GIRLS wanted to be. When one thinks about it, it's somewhat unfair that MEAN GIRLS got a theatrical release while this went straight-to-television since this is far superior. It's far better than most teen comedies that have come out in the past few years. **1/2

I don't think that this movie has aspirations to greatness, but it was enjoyable enough, and has some very good performances.

Top of the list for me was Jane McGregor. She really gave her all in playing Starla who was, after all, not a particularly sympathetic character. She has a real flair for comedy - at the tender age of 19 - and is very attractive as well. I will be looking out for Jane's work in future.

I also enjoyed the minor role from the little brother, not too overdone, and the mother with the ever present "iced tea".

Overall, a pleasant diversion, fairly lightweight, but with some good work from the cast.

I saw this movie back in 2002 when it came out, luckily I went to the cheap theater. Imagine my surprise when I saw a preview on ABC for a new movie, the "Premiere," they were saying. I watched the preview and the more times I saw it the more I insisted to family and friends that I had seen this film. They pointed out it was an "ABC Family Original," and this was the premiere, no way could I have seen it. Raunchy cheerleader moves, flippy hair, French student, girly cat fight, lots of posturing in front of mirrors, yeah I've seen this movie. However, ABC decided to get a little more PC (guess we're on better terms with France,) and they changed the title to "She Gets What She Wants."

Just finished watching the film, this movie sucked almost as bad as the title, but a thought suddenly struck me, what would have happened if they had called the film "Slap Her, She's black"? or "Slap Her, She's Muslim"? or "Slap Her, She's Not American" (heaven forbid). Now I am not black, or Muslim, definately not French. I am a white Englishman, a Yorkshireman, religion-less (if that is a word) but perhaps that's just me. Avoid.

OK, I'll go out on the limb here by stating that I really liked this movie, and was pleasantly surprised by it. This flick simply does what it says on the cover: a comedy that is actually funny, rather than gross or grotesque. There is a real story, real development, a real turn-around, real acting; the plot is funny, as are the quotes and dialogues ("Our love dried up like a three day-old croissant!") and the running gags (such as the students adopting "Ouais!" as their interjection-du-jour in an attempt to emulate Geneviève, or Starla's alcoholic mum's fixation on her "special" ice tea); in fact, and especially considering the movie's provenience and target audience, the humour is often astoundingly dark. This is all the more laudable as both cast and production are sort of B-listish (by fame, not performance).

My only brickbat would be that I thought that Starla's magic conversion from teenage queen-bee to "real person" with concomitant change of boyfriend was predictable, moralistic, unnecessary and naff.