Everyone is talking about the She’s All That remake, He’s All That, so I had to give it a watch myself. I’ll admit it— I like a cheesy Netflix rom com from time to time, but this is the last one I’d watch. Padgett Sawyer has a large following on social media for doing makeovers, but when an embarrassing viral video of her comes out, she places a bet to makeover a “loser” from her high school into prom king. The premise of the plot is to be expected, knowing that it is a gender-flipped remake of She’s All That appealing to Gen Z, but the dialogue is so predictable you would think it was auto generated by a computer. The predictably of the script, along with the one-dimensional acting (if you can even call it that), makes for an unbearable viewing experience.
The movie tries to appeal to Gen Z in a way that’s only relatable to people like the star herself, Addison Rae. There are even phone inserts mimicking the app that made Rae famous, TikTok. Much of the plot revolves around social media, which is relatable for our generation, but in an awkward way, like going viral for an embarrassing video, obsessive selfies, and recording everything. While the effort to remake this storyline into something fresher is admirable, it falls flat.
The most redeeming part of the movie are the cameos of Rachael Leigh Cook as Padgett’s mom and Matthew Lillard as the school principal. Overall, this movie seems like it was made for Addison Rae and Addison Rae only. Her character is essentially a version of her, she gets to showcase what made her famous, “dancing,” and she looks perfect while doing it all. I’d recommend skipping this version and sticking to She’s All That instead.