Most teen flicks don't even try to break the gross-out or super-sap mold.
So when Get Over It takes the slightest stab as being something other than Freddie-Prinze-bland, you've got to give it the time of day, or at least 90 minutes of your night.
Get Over It hit theaters in 2001, but it barely racked up a box office showing. Miramax declined to preview it to the press, and trailers touted it as a horn-dog and chest-shot packed American Pie wanna-be.
Okay, you may be wondering why I paid seven bucks to see this oh-so-promising movie.
Kirsten Dunst.
No, I did not drop my hard-earned cash to drool over the beauteous teen queen, but to laugh at her dead pan comic timing and bubbly screen presence.
As Get Over It's leading lady, Dunst doesn't disappoint. A cast of young, talented and not-yet-too-annoyingly-famous actors join her.
Get Over It starts with clueless Berke (Ben Foster) being dumped by longtime girlfriend Allison (Melissa Sagemiller). Allison quickly rebounds with British-bad-boy Stryker (Shane West), leaving Berke drooling after his ex-honey.
Berke's boys, Felix (Colin Hanks) and Dennis (Sisqó), try to help him get over the breakup, but Berke is determined to do anything to win back his gal, including trying out for the school musical in which Allison and Stryker play leading roles: A Midsummer Night's Rockin' Eve.
Basketball player Berke can barely even sing the Big Red jingle, so Felix's "baby sister" Kelly (Dunst), an aspiring songwriter and delightful soprano, offers to help him secure a part in the play.
The rest of Get Over It plays out like a musical, teen version of Shakespeare's romantic comedy masterpiece, but with suburban kids playing the parts of the Greek lovers.
Kelly pines after Berke. Berke chases Allison. Allison swoons for Stryker. And stuck-up Stryker seems to love only himself.
Get Over It bounces with vibrancy that few other teen flicks possess. It nods at the teen comedy genre on a few criteria, like the "token black guy" and the "party where something bad happens," but that's where the similarities between Get Over It and most other teen standards stop.
How many teen flicks feature lip-synched opening credits to Captain and Tenille's "Love Will Keep Us Together," complete with pirouetting construction workers and sashaying UPS deliverymen?
How many teen flicks feature a full cast sing-along of "It's Fun to Be a Fairy (Fairy Power!)" from the butchered bard musical A Midsummer Night's Rockin' Eve?
How many teen flicks feature sex-talk-show-host parents asking their son if he would rather "polish the rocket" or go for frozen yogurt?
Martin Short is flawless as the flamboyant, straight-from-your-high-school drama teacher, Hanks is just as low-key and likable as his dad Tom, Foster maintains the sardonic wittiness he portrayed in Disney channel staple Flash Forward and Dunst glows with sweet charisma.
Take a break from the way too ordinary droll of teen romantic comedies with the abnormally amusing and charming Get Over It, and find out for yourself that it's more than all that and doesn't even have ten things to hate about it.
