# Boys and Girls (2000)

### reviewed by
Steve Rhodes

    BOYS AND GIRLS
    A film review by Steve Rhodes
    Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
    RATING (0 TO ****):  *

In BOYS AND GIRLS Freddie Prinze Jr. delivers a lame performance that appears almost to be a parody of himself as an actor playing a part. The canonical young romantic comedy lead, Prinze this time plays a lifeless character named Ryan Williams, who is an anal-retentive grammarian and a structural engineering student. With nerdy glasses and big hair that looks like it was parted by Moses, Ryan is not the type who succeeds easily with girls.

In contrast, the lovely Jennifer (Claire Forlani from MEET JOE BLACK) has everything to attract the opposite sex. Her problem (other than her obsession with Latin quotes -- she's a Latin major) is that she has a phobia toward commitments. That's really original. Her first long-time boyfriend drops her by singing his goodbye in a song in a nightclub in which he is performing.

Ryan and Jennifer keep running into each other, and, as you can probably guess, their friendship becomes deeper than either one of them realizes.

You, however, will care about none of this. Thanks to Robert Iscove's lethargic direction and Andrew Lowery and Andrew Miller's laughless script, the movie creaks along like a car from Rent-a-Wreck. If the movie could have ever worked it way up to at least being insulting that would have been a welcome improvement. (The movie starts off raunchily as the characters as 12-year-olds meet for the first-time on a plane. Their candid discussion involves her first period since it delays the flight. After this episode, however, the movie becomes as bland as the help-wanted slides that they play in the theaters before the movie starts. No. Hold that thought. Some of the slides show at least some inspiration.)

"You're pretty funny when you're depressed," Jennifer tells Ryan. "Get ready for comedy," he quips. If you're heading for BOYS AND GIRLS, it will help if you find depression funny because you may be pretty depressed after wasting your money on this shallow story.

BOYS AND GIRLS runs 1:34. It is rated PG-13 for sexual content and would be acceptable for teenagers.

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com <http://www.InternetReviews.com>

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