You Again

Marni (Kristen Bell) was picked on relentlessly in high school, with cheerleader Joanna (Odette Yustman) leading the assault. Flash forward a few years and Marni is now vice president at a public relations firm. She's lost the braces and the acne, exchanged her glasses for contacts, and found a decent stylist. She's even gained enough self confidence that she's able to use her nerdy past as a teaching tool for others at her firm about how changing the way you see yourself can help you achieve success. That philosophy goes out the window the moment Marni learns that her brother Will (James Wolk) is about to marry her former tormentor. Coincidentally, it turns out that Joanna's Aunt Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) and Marni's mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) were high school adversaries, as well.

Star Kristen Bell displays good comedic timing and acquits herself much better here than in her wretched star vehicle from earlier this year, When in Rome. It's also nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver in sizable roles, and they make the most of the opportunity despite the middling material they've been given. These two deserve to be in better movies than this, but the pickings are unfortunately slim for actresses over the age of 30. Betty White, who has been going through a bit of a career resurgence of late, gets a couple of good scenes as Marni's grandmother but ultimately feels underused.  

You Again does a fair job of showing just how awful high school can be for kids who get bullied, and that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. That's a good message for those who might be going through similar experiences to hear, and something many in the audience will likely relate to. Not so relateable is the excess of the wedding itself. Just once, it might be nice to see a movie like this where the characters aren't ridiculously wealthy and materialistic.  It also bears mentioning that this could have been a much better, and just as funny (maybe funnier) movie if it had depicted its characters as real human beings instead of having them behave like typical movie cliches.  Not that anyone should really expect much more from a high concept Hollywood chick comedy, just saying it might be a nice change of pace.  Still, the movie is good natured and has enough laughs that there's no point being too hard on it.  2 stars