Dangereuse séduction

Ryan Woodman (Shane West) and Maggie Carter (Marla Sokoloff) are best friends and neighbors. Floyd (Aaron Paul) is their slacker friend. Ryan is obsessed with high school goddess Ashley Grant (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Big man on campus Chris Campbell (James Franco) wants to get the one he can't get, the virginal enigmatic Maggie. So he needs Ryan to Cyrano DeBergerac for him. In return he proposes to do the same for Ryan with his cousin Ashley.

The biggest problem is that Shane West is way too good looking for the loser role. They need somebody much more geeky, and a bad haircut really doesn't make it. It's nothing offensive, but it just can't rise above the clichés. It's obvious where this is going, and it has an uncomfortable time getting there.

The only part of WIT it takes I liked was the set, Maggie and Ryan's balconies. That was cool, plus it had the opportunity to say the one funny part of the film was when Ryan jumps onto her porch and Maggie says the line [not gonna say it if people are reading this who haven't seen the movie]. Much better versions of this storyline were "Never Been Kissed", "She's All That" and the aforementioned "10 Things". I must admit, I was a little confused why they put great actors like Kip Pardue and Christine Lakin in bit parts while Jodi Lyn O'keefe and James Franco were starring.

Ryan Woodman (Shane West) and Maggie Carter (Marla Sokoloff) are neighbors and best friends. Ryan is a very sensible guy, his nerd friends are very weird and has a crush in Ashley Grant (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Ashley is a shallow but popular, beautiful and sexy girl in their high school. Her cousin Chris Campbell (James Franco) is a brainless and dumb American football player, who wants to have a date with Maggie. Ryan and Chris make a deal: each one of them will introduce and help the other to be with the girl of their dreams. This movie is so predictable that around six minutes of story I could foresee the end. The story is full of clichés, but there are some funny (but also expected) situations. The teen cast is not bad and in the end it becomes a reasonable and forgettable entertaining. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): `Correndo Atrás' (`Running After')

I thought this film had some really funny moments and good lines. Marla Sokoloff was perfect for his role, and so was James Franco, who looks as cocky as his character in the film is. The other actress Jodie was played over the top, because she has all these hissy fits which can be funny to watch or annoying. Overall good job but the ending is dumb

In the lines of She's All That, Columbia Pictures brings Whatever It Takes, a teen comedy with all the cliches. The story is fairly simple, unpopular guy (Shane West) is in love with hottest girl in the school (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). His beautiful yet different female friend (Marla Sokoloff) is being adored by the hottest guy in the school (James Franco). So the unpopular guy and the popular guy team up to get the girls. They both help each other in ways that aren't normal to each other. But when the unpopular guy realizes that what he was looking for was right under his nose everything becomes chaotic. The performances are good. Nobody does a stand out job but they all do the best with what they have. The jokes are at times really funny and at times a complete waist of time. There is a lot of racy material for a PG-13 movie. Many of the sexual jokes can get pretty bad. If your a teenager I think you will enjoy this film. Whatever It Takes is a sometime enjoyable and sometime funny teen comedy with a reused plot and many teen comedy cliches. If your looking for a comedy that breaks new ground this just ain't it. But if your looking to enjoy yourself, you might just get a kick out of it.