She's the Man

She's the Man can come across as a typical teen popcorn flick, but bubbling just below the surface is an uncanny depth of insight into human relationships and sexuality.

The film is based on a Shakespearean play (Twelfth Night). It has the characteristic tongue-in-cheek flair of a Shakespearean comedy as well as the depth that makes Shakespeare classic, but She's the Man doesn't use any Shakespearean dialogue, and is set in a modern college setting. The movie uses the strong plot and characters of a Shakespearean play and produces an equally complex and entertaining modern Hollywood film. I laughed out loud many times, not just in a "this is funny" way, but also because, as Shakespeare could do so well, the filmmakers nailed the complexity of human interaction and sexual identity.

(BTW, in case you don't know the story, it involves a girl (Viola) pretending to be her twin brother, and then numerous people falling in love with others, most of whom are actually someone else, or a different gender.)

One of the strongest aspects of the the movie is the way Viola thoroughly adopts the mannerisms of a man, without letting us forget that she is, in fact, a woman. I watched this movie over the course of two days, and when I couldn't sleep for a while at night, I kept running scenes over in my head, trying to decide if I believed Viola both as an attractive woman, and a desirable man. I kept waffling back and forth between thinking "she's more a woman" and "she's more like a man" before I realized that I'd just answered my question!

I usually watch dramas and action movies because modern comedy films are silly and vulgar fluff. She's the Man combines a classic story with the best of Hollywood filmmaking to produce an intelligent, insightful comedy that adults and teens can not only enjoy, but also appreciate.