Starring: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, Betty White, Victor Garber, James Wolk, Sean Wing, Billy Unger, Kristin Chenoweth and Kyle Bornheimer
Directed By: Andy Fickman
Written By: Moe Jelline
Produced By: Andy Fickman, John J. Strauss, and Eric Tannenbaum
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Rating: PG, for brief mild language and rude behavior.
Running Time: Approximately 105 minutes
Website: youagain-themovie.com
Budget: $20 Million
Genre: Comedy
Release Date: September 24, 2010
Based on the ubiquitous trailer and television spots, discerning moviegoers might be inclined to think that the new Disney comedy You Again is probably a tepid affair with a flimsy premise that somehow managed to snag a talented cast of younger actors (Kristen Bell, Odette Yustman) working opposite respected veterans (Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis, Betty White and Victor Garber).
Thanks in large part to the cast, who make this far more enjoyable than it has any right to be, that isn’t entirely accurate.
Eight years out of high school, Marni (Kristen Bell), a young, successful public relations executive now living in Los Angeles, returns to her small northern California hometown to attend her older brother Will’s (James Wolk) wedding to Joanna (Odette Yustman). Excited for her brother and anxious to finally meet the woman who’ll soon be her sister-in-law, the recently promoted PR exec is floored that her beloved older brother is actually set to marry the girl who made a good deal of her time in high school hellish.
Making the situation even worse, Joanna (who went by JJ back in the day) claims to have zero recollection of her bullying antics from such a relatively brief time ago, and has managed to completely win over the entire family, including Will and Marni’s parents, Mark and Gail (Victor Garber and Jamie Lee Curtis), their younger brother Ben (Billy Unger) and their Grandma Bunny (Betty White), none of whom have a clue how horrible she was towards Marni.
Gail, who is all about giving people a second chance, gets sucker punched herself when her former best friend Ramona (Sigourney Weaver), who now goes by Mona and whom Gail hasn’t seen in 30 years, shows up, and as it turns out, is related to Joanna, looking like the filthy rich entrepreneur she is.
In predictable fashion, all that love and light nonsense Gail (and to a degree Joanna) espouse is kicked to the curb once old rivalries are rekindled and the cat fights begin.
Despite the just-this-side-of-ridiculous premise (former pizza-faced, four-eyed nerd discovers her brother is marrying the popular girl who tortured her throughout high school), and the fairly predictable outcome, the talented ensemble cast makes the formulaic material sing (in some cases, paging Kristen Chenoweth, literally).
It’s great to see Curtis and Weaver, who got their big breaks starring in iconic horror films (Halloween and Alien, respectively) working opposite each other for the first time, both bring far more nuance to their characters than was likely on the page, as do Bell and Yustman, who are charming screen presences. Garber is the film’s lone voice of reason, while relative newcomer Unger gets some choice lines and moments as the wiseacre little brother. Broadway spitfire Chenoweth shows up as an over-the-top wedding planner, and Kyle Bornheimer is a riot as Joanna’s former boyfriend who’s still pining away for her.
And thank God for the life force that is Betty White, who, at 88 years old, is still out there doing the damn thing (impeccably, I might add) and experiencing a boon in popularity that hasn’t been seen since the late-Jessica Tandy took the film world by storm in 1989 at age 80 with her Oscar-winning performance in Driving Miss Daisy.
Grade: 3 stars (out of 5)
