Shes the Man (2006)

"It's a cute romantic comedy, just as Shakespeare intended.  Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
"This is a perfectly pleasant, entertaining and often witty romp...  Claudia Puig, USA Today
"A screwball comedy that made me wish I were 13 again...  Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Editor's Note Another teen-flavored Shakespeare adaptation in a lineage that includes ROMEO JULIET (1997), 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (1999), and O (2001), SHE'S THE MAN takes an even lighter approach to TWELFTH NIGHT than the bard himself, but throws a curve by mixing its inherent gender-switch romance with a feel-good girl power sports element. Amanda Bynes (WHAT A GIRL WANTS) is Viola, a high schooler who just wants to play soccer, even though her mother (Julie Hagerty) is prepping her for a debutante ball. After the girls' soccer team is eliminated from her school just before the start of the school year, she finds that her brother, also a soccer player, is ditching the beginning of the semester to go to London with his band. Viola decides to go in his place---as a boy--and prove that she can make it on the team. However, she doesn't count on falling for hunky jock Duke (Channing Tatum, SUPERCROSS), whom she befriends and reluctantly attempts to aid in wooing beautiful and popular Olivia (Laura Ramsey). Though the credits list Shakespeare as its inspiration, the script--by Ewan Leslie, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten Smith--owes more to the perennial cable TV classic JUST ONE OF THE GUYS (1985), in which a female student goes undercover at a rival high school as a boy for journalistic purposes. Here, Bynes, (a veteran of Nickelodeon's sketch comedy show ALL THAT) gamely jumps into the role with energy to spare and a broad comic style that works well with this bright, colorful film. The adult roles are handled deftly by Hagerty and Vinnie Jones (SNATCH), who lends authenticity as the soccer coach, and David Cross (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT), who makes the most of his clueless headmaster role with the help of a cavalcade of ridiculous hats.

	Amanda Bynes
	Channing Tatum
	David Cross
	Julie Hagerty
	Andy Fickman - Director
	Ewan Leslie, et. al. - Writer
	Greg Gardiner - Cinematographer
	Marty P. Ewing - Executive Producer
	Michael Jablow - Editor
	Nathan Wang - Original Music By
	Patrick McIntire - Producer

Sight and Sound
"The cross-gender struggles of Bynes' heroine do offer a few laughs." 05/01/2006 p.70

USA Today
"[A] breezy, funny, gender-bending, self-empowerment teen comedy/romance that has tenuous Shakespearean origins." 03/17/2006 p.8E

Ultimate DVD
"It's a fun conceit which will be fresh and funny to boys and girls alike..." 09/01/2006 p.192

The Village Voice 7 of 10
Hollywood's a sucker for cross-dressing, but if you're looking for drag kings, you're pretty much stuck with Yentl. She's the Man, in which a teenage girl must go undercover at a private school to play soccer, doesn't have an unpredictable moment in it, borrowing heavily from just about every sports movie or teen comedy ever and, oh yeah, Twelfth Night. What it does have is teen-queen-turned-drag-king Amanda Bynes, who tackles the lead role of Viola/Sebastian with enough enthusiasm to wring laughs from the retread story. - Jordan Harper

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
Of Amanda Bynes let us say that she is sunny and plucky and somehow finds a way to play her impossible role without clearing her throat more than six or eight times. More importantly, we like her. She first won a following with her show on Nickelodeon, and was funny in "Big Fat Liar" (2002), but in this role, as Shakespeare might say, she achieves greatness, or maybe she has it thrust upon her. The movie is good-natured and silly... - Roger Ebert