Susan Granger’s review of “BOYS AND GIRLS” (Miramax Films)
A romantic comedy is supposed to be fanciful and fun. This is neither. Nor is it sexy. Written by Andrew Lowery and Andrew Miller (who call themselves the Drews) and directed by Robert Iscove, as a date movie, it’s so blatantly formulaic and generically predictable that it’s tedium. After “She’s All That” and “Down to You,” Freddie Prinze Jr. could play this teenybopper idol role by rote – and he practically does. He’s a sensitive stud who finds his soul-mate in Claire Forlani, who’s obviously seen too many episodes of “Ally McBeal.” They first met, years ago, when they were pre-teens, on an airplane and discovered that they were both children of divorce en route to their new homes. Since then, their paths have crossed occasionally but they both, coincidentally, wound up at University of California at Berkeley. The so-called “catch” is that they’re not only commitment-phobic, very verbal best-friends but, temperamentally, opposites. He’s logical and has his heart set on structural engineering; she’s free-spirited, emotional and a Latin major. And if much of their commiserating about their respective lackluster love lives looks familiar, think “When Harry Met Sally…” which obviously served as inspiration. Then, one night, passion overcomes resistance, and – guess what? – he’s more sexually strait-laced than she is. (The giddy teenage girls in the audience were giggling hysterically at this point.) The other actors, like Jason Biggs, Amanda Detmer and Heather Donahue, simply look bored, desperately wishing they were elsewhere. And who can blame them? On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Boys and Girls” is a lame, tepid 2. Guys, you gotta wait too long for those Victoria’s Secret models to beckon your glazed eyes back to the screen.
