# Head Over Heels (2001)

### reviewed by
Ross Anthony

    Prinze Charming
    Head Over Heels

     By Ross Anthony

"I'm the woman with the worst judgment in men," admits Amanda (Monica Potter). Having been cheated once too many times, she leaves her latest disloyal boyfriend and rents a closet (err... room) in an extravagant apartment occupied by four goofy models and overlooking the residence of Jim Winsten (Freddie Prinze Jr.). Having sworn off men forever, she buries herself in her work (fine art restoration) and then, of course, gets weak in the knees for Freddie upon first meeting. But will he fall head over heels too, or will he be just like all the other men in this movie, or will he turn out to be a phony, liar, Vespa rider?

Early on choppy editing left the production awkwardly timed. At Monica's workplace, the group of three senior ladies felt horribly filmed and added later. After a sticky first 20 minutes, the editing found a decent groove and the rough-edged acting also improved to adequate.

The first meeting of Monica and Jim balances the sweet charming beats with ouch wince-able beats. Much of the humor lies in stuttery, got the words wrong because I'm in love, type dialogue, "I got the runs ... I ah, mean, I gotta run."

Monica Potter shows some promise, gracing the screen with a reminiscence of Julia Roberts gone blonde and unrefined. "He must have some huge flaw ... because I'm attracted to him."

Freddie Prinze, Jr. simply smiled and giggled his way through the picture.

4 models + 1 cop = a very bad scene. However, the two fish tank scenes brought a maturity and class to a production sorely unaware that those qualities were lacking. Though neither classy nor mature, by far the funniest two scenes required a toilet. (But they really were funny!)

But hey, what do I know? I'm not a fourteen year old girl.

Head Over Heels. Copyright © 2001. Rated R. * Starring Monica Potter, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah O'Hare, Shalom Harlow, Ivana Milicevic, Tomiko Fraser, China Chow, Jay Brazeau. * Directed by Mark Waters. * Written by Ron Burch, David Kidd. * Produced by Robert Simonds at Universal.

Grade..........................B-

-- Copyright © 2000. Ross Anthony, currently based in Los Angeles, has scripted and shot documentaries, music videos, and shorts in 35 countries across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

For more reviews visit: http://www.RossAnthony.com

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