She s the Man (2006) (Full Frame; Checkpoint)

Totally hilarious!!

By Dinie  May 16, 2006 | 2 out of 2 found this She s the Man (2006) review helpful

Pros: Great script and characters.

Cons: amanda kind of chubby as sebastian

"She's the Man" is an ultimately entertaining teen movie which takes the gender-bending action of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and drops it in the middle of a modern-day American boarding school. Viola (Amanda Bynes) is ...a tomboy and a soccer star on the women's team at Cornwall Prep. Her life is soccer, which becomes a problem when her school cuts the women from the sports program. Better than most of the boys, Viola wants to suit up with them but is snubbed by both the coach and the team's captain – her boyfriend. So it's "end of discussion … end of relationship." Viola hatches a plan to pursue her sporting dreams at rival school Illyria, where her twin brother has just enrolled. Twin brother, Sebastian, is skipping off to England for two weeks and nobody at Illyria has ever met him. Viola disguises herself as her brother and moves into the dorms where she meets her roommate and fellow soccer player Duke (Channing Tatum). She begins to gear up for Illyria's season opener against Cornwall and has to navigate a complicated love-triangle, in addition to other challenges like taking a shower alongside her male teammates, without them finding out about her girl parts.In reality, nobody who looks like Bynes could get away with impersonating a 17 year-old male. Viola is too pretty to be a boy but Viola puts on her wig and fake sideburns and, suddenly, she's the most socially awkward nerd-boy you've ever seen.The Sebastian disguise doesn't have to be convincing. What matters is that all the other characters are oblivious to facts that are obvious to the audience. The laughs come from seeing Viola get away with a ridiculous scam. In one scene, Duke and fake Sebastian hug each other, but Viola slips out of character and gets a little too friendly. But it's the knowledge that Duke is disturbed by being frisked by someone who is actually a girl that makes us laugh.Other than that, "She's the Man" offers audiences the simple pleasure of Amanda Bynes who seems to be a natural in comedic roles. Her Sebastian/Viola is definitely a caricature but it's a perfectly illustrated one. From her mixed-up half southern, half Canadian drawl (her misguided version of the typical teen boy cadence), to her crotch grabbing and Eminem-like posturing, Bynes gives us a hard laugh. So in conclusion, I think "Sh'e's the Man" is an exceptionally fun movie to watch with friends and family. Amanda Bynes scores again!! Read more Less