Drew Barrymore in "Never Been Kissed."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Drew Barrymore, David Arquette and Leelee Sobieski Director: Raja Gosnell Rated: PG-13, with profanity and sexual innuendo Length: 107 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(April 9, 1999) -- If today's in-your-face, sex-and-violence teen movies make you long for the kinder, gentler days when writer-director John Hughes ruled adolescent cinema, then Never Been Kissed is for you.

An immensely likable Drew Barrymore is the chief attraction in this improbable but entertaining comedy, directed by Raja Gosnell, a former Hughes assistant and director of Home Alone 3. (This might explain the film's stylistic echoes of Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)

Barrymore, all soft edges and sweetness, plays Josie Geller, a 25-year-old Chicago Sun-Times copy editor assigned to go back to high school as an undercover reporter.

The back-to-school premise stumbles more often than the Jordan-less Chicago Bulls, but it succeeds in the way that matters most: as an excuse for Josie to engage in audience-pleasing wish fulfillment.

Considered an unattractive ditz in school, she gets to go back and do it right.

But Josie's still clueless about how to be hip. She literally trips into school the first day and can't quite get back on her feet. The cool girls turn up their noses, so she's embraced by the school's outsiders, including the clever but nerdy Aldys (a marvelous Leelee Sobieski).

Josie fears she'll lose her newspaper assignment, since she doesn't fit with the school's in crowd. But then her brother, Rob (David Arquette), also returns to school.

Inspired by Josie to pursue his old high school dream, he wants to be a successful baseball player, and he inexplicably needs to star on a high school team to make that happen. (Hey, I warned you about the plot.)

Rob hides his identity as Josie's brother and spreads stories about how cool she is. She begins to climb the school's social ladder, only to question the value of being in the chic clique in the first place.

Despite the film's many flaws -- including one of Hollywood's silliest portrayals of the newspaper business -- Never Been Kissed still works.

That's all thanks go to Barrymore, who charms her way through the loose-limbed narrative, showing surprising skill as a physical comedian. Check out her hilarious dance at the prom after she ingests her first hashish brownies.

Barrymore also was the film's executive producer. She can be grateful she had herself as a star. Without her, Never Been Kissed wouldn't be worth a pucker.