Boys and Girls (2000)

The Long Review: "Boys and Girls" is the 359th movie to explore the question, "Can men and women just be friends?" Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s and Claire Forlani's characters first meet when they are right smack in the middle of puberty. They instantly don't hit it off, and the love-hate relationship continues through high school and halfway through college. Thanks to loser relationships, Forlani's compulsive need to whine to Prinze, Jr., and the power of coffee, the two eventually become best friends. And, what do you know? They end up in the sack. Woo-hoo!! "Boys and Girls" can pass as a remake of "When Harry Met Sally," only the characters are younger, hipper, and well…better-looking. But the advantage of "Boys and Girls" over "When Harry Met Sally" ends there. "Boys and Girls" is slower, way more predictable, and well, a lot more shallow. Granted, I don't think people came out to see this movie to get their minds stimulated (perhaps they wanted something else stimulated…hehehe), but still, I don't think they came out to be put to sleep…and ripped off.

In case you still don't get it, the movie was SLOW!! I remember turning to Guru Dudu about half an hour into the movie and saying, "It's been half an hour and nothing's happened yet!" Well, I guess that's not exactly true; in that half an hour, I did see Claire Forlani go through about 4 different haircuts, none of them the least bit flattering.

One thing I did like about the movie was the dialogue. It was clever, funny, almost philosophical (gasp!). I guess they were trying to portray Claire Forlani (Jennifer) and Freddie Prinze, Jr. (Ryan) as real intellectuals (who were real dummies when it came to romance. But then again, who isn't? I'm a genius and I don't know the first thing about love. Serious. No, really. I'm a genius.) I hate to admit it, but Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s big speech moved me to tears. No, not because it was bad but because he was just so damn convincing saying it. I just wanted to give the guy a big hug. Hell, the guy could just be standing there doing nothing, saying nothing, and I'd still want to just run over and give him a big hug…and much more. Hehehehe. He's hot. Hehehehe.

The movie had another redeeming factor for me: the dance sequence. I know some other critics will judge it as a write-off, but it did it for me. I liked it. A lot. It was quite a treat. It made me feel like shaking my booty. (Guru Dudu: Oh, yeah. I liked it, too. It made me feel like shaking Claire Forlani's booty.) Now here's the riveting question. I recall there being a dance sequence in another one of Freddie Prinze, Jr's movies ("She's All That"). And both sequences had similar moves. Does this guy bring his own choreographer with him or something? Now that's cool. How come he wasn't casted for "Center Stage," Huh? Huh? Then maybe more people would've gone to see it!

As for the cinematography, I must say Freddie Prinze, Jr. made for the best scenery. (Guru Dudu: Claire Forlani! Don't forget Claire Forlani!! She was a great view!!) Now what else was there? Oh, yeah, we get to see the vast expanse of UC Berkeley. Bonus. Not. And there's that thinking place that Freddie Prinze, Jr. goes to when he needs to think. Oh, yeah, 'cuz as a structural engineering student, he doesn't get to do enough of that. Nuh-uh. And then there's the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, yeah, baby!! We're really seeing some good stuff now!! In a nutshell, there was nothing special about the cinematography. Camera angles looked pretty monotonous to me. But I really liked those close-ups of Freddie.

I think the movie could've explored a lot more, given the cast and the widely-accepted theme: Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fight. Boy and girl become friends. Boy and girl hit sack. It was a pretty good cast: Jason Biggs ("American Pie") as Freddie Prinze, Jr's pathological liar, girl-chasing best friend; Amanda Detmer as Claire Forlani's Ally Mc Bealish roommate; and Heather Donahue as Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s fellow engineering student and girlfriend. It's just too bad these actors got stuck with such a simplistic script. Tsk-tsk. It's obvious they can act. Unfortunately, an actor is only as good as the script. Again, tsk-tsk.

I bothered staying. Oh, wait. That's right. Freddie. Heheheh. But apparently, I didn't stay long enough. You know that ménage-a-five scene that they show in the previews? Well (said really angrily), they don't show it until the after the credits come up!! So I didn't get to see it!! What the hell's up with that?? Readers, take heed. If you want to see what could just be the best scene in the movie (I'd tell you for sure if it was, but I didn't get to see it, now did I?!), stay till the end. I repeat. Stay till the end. And let me know how it was, golly gosh darn it!!

"Boys and Girls" is a simple, gentle, calm movie that offers no surprises or intellectual stimulation. If you like it nice and easy, this movie's for you. And it offers pretty good eye candy. But "When Harry Met Sally" it ain't. So if you really need to ponder on boy-girl platonic relationships, I suggest you go to your nearest video store.