PREMIERE.COM'S MOVIE REVIEW (posted 3/23/06)

Retooling literary classics into modern teen fare is nothing new. Clueless was a cool makeover of Jane Austen's Emma, Cruel Intentions took on Choderlos de Laclos' eighteenth century novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and 10 Things I Hate About You set Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew in high schoool. Shakespeare has been remixed once again with She's the Man, a jokey remix of the Bard's Twelfth Night.

Amanda Bynes is Viola Hastings, a star high school soccer player who sets out to prove she's as good as the boys when the girls' team is cut and the boys' coach won't let her try out for their squad. In the tortured logic of many teen comedies, Viola decides to pose as her twin brother, Sebastian, so she can play ball for his new prep school's squad while he's off ditching school to tour with his rock band. Inevitably, she falls for her male roomie, he falls for her-as-her and his original crush falls for her-as-him. It's as mixed up on screen as it is to read about, but Bynes is honestly funny and does a good job carrying the film.

Bynes is wholly unconvincing as a 16-year-old boy, but the filmmakers were smart enough to play with that fact, having Viola-as-Sebastion mumble about having skipped some grades when the rest of the dudes wonder if he's even old enough to be in high school. As She's the Man progresses, her voices climbs through many octaves as she forgets who she's supposed to be, and her mannerisms range too. Implausible as she is, her voice-changing, artificial guy-speak, and penchant for causing fights makes the whole film fun and watchable.—Jessica Letkemann