Coisas de Meninos e Meninas

I'm not going to lie, really the only reason I had any interest in It's a Boy Girl Thing was because my man candy Kevin Zegers was a main star. Having said that, I thought It's a Boy Girl Thing was genuinely and truly a funny, enjoyable and nice little film to watch. It was entertaining and though the main gist has been a bit butchered, they were able to come up with fresh material that became indisputably likable and I was very pleased with the outcome of this movie.

First of all, I thought the performances were believable and likable. Armstrong and Zegers have a cute chemistry and their individual performances were delightful. Even though the film is predictable, I really wasn't going to give it a hard time for that, because the performances are charming, the movie itself is well done and just a fun time, and I really don't think a film should be judged just because you know what's going to happen; it can still be satisfying and good fun. It's not meant to be an Oscar winning masterpiece, and it shows, but with the material they try to work with, they pull off a current, fun, teen rom-com.

In the end, It's a Boy Girl Thing is nonetheless just a nice film to watch from time to time if you enjoy it for what it is. Armstrong and Zegers, as well as all the supporting actors and actresses, look like they have a fun time giving pleasant and congenial performances. The material is fresh for a plot that's running out of ideas and the movie is just well done from start to finish. I am glad I had the chance to watch it.

I know what you're saying. There are countless of movies out there involving body switches, either parental-kid (like Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday), and cross- gender, be it deliberate (like Amanda Bynes in She's The Man) or through inexplicable supernatural occurrence (like Jack Neo's Just Follow Law, or The Hot Chick starring Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams). Whatever the case is, it seems that such stories still can find a market and a demand, otherwise they wouldn't be made, will they? And comedies which arise from such situations almost always seem to recycle some jokes, removing plenty of lustre from what could have been funny, but not so, because of familiarity with the subject matter.

Surprisingly, It's a Boy Girl Thing still worked, for me at least. Sure, it had the usual jokes with respect to changing and getting used to the new bodies, taking advantage of the change to get chummy with the boys/girls with ulterior motives, and doing everything just wrong deliberately so as to get back at the person whose body you now possess. But what this one had, was plenty of heart, pounding on the universal theme of empathy, of not being able to fully understand someone, until you get under their skin and walk around in it, in which case this movie of course took things literally.

Samaire Armstrong stars as Nell Bedworth, who's into literature, and whose snooty, prim and proper parents are holding their hopes of her daughter getting into Yale. Her neighbour is school quarterback jock Woody Deane (Kevin Zegers), whose family is pretty much of the average joe, laissez faire type, whose dream for their son is to work at a sweatshop from 9 to 5. Naturally the school jock has a minor aspiration different from his parent's expectation, and that is to score a college education through football.

It's no rocket science that the two of them don't get along, and as the opening credits illustrate, they get on each other's nerves ever so often, that some ancient god decide to play a prank on them by switching their bodies. Thus unleashing pandemonium in their lives as they have to grapple with living in a foreign body, as well as to ensure that they stay on their respective course to pursue their dreams. It also becomes the usual opposite attracts story, starting with their adversary with each other, to the inevitable finale, but what indeed was marvelous here, were the little scenes crafted where they have to begin to lean more about each other, and to gain each other's trust.

What I felt helped the movie was its decision to junk a lot of unnecessary subplots that usually bloat such movies, to just keep it simple and very focused, delivering almost every time it called for a punchline, or during non-comedic moments with serious drama, while laying off the melodramatics. Simple words uttered, simple actions made, spoke loads and went the mile. The chemistry between Samaire Armstrong and Kevin Zegers worked wonders too, whether they're playing it straight, or playing each other's characters, and sometimes there are situations where you just have to do a double take to put things into their correct perspective.

If there should be a gripe, it would be the jarring edit made for an NC16 rating. This is one movie that didn't fear getting into the politically incorrect field, filled with nudity and plenty of coarse language, which I thought was somewhat of an adults-only version of a genre done so many times. And if you're a fan of rap and hip-hop, then you'll probably find yourself grooving to the soundtrack from Eminem to the Black Eyed Peas.

This movie comes recommended. It's not perfect, but it was jolly good fun.

Body swap movies are nothing new and here the premise is the same; what raises it above are the two central perfromances which are strong and the overall sense of fun mixed with some good tackling of stereotypes...

While pretty much forgettable, while watching we found it fun and charming and full of the right kinds of energies.

If you've got young teenagers but still want a film you can all watch - and aren't embarrassed by the sexual innuendo that runs through this - then this is not a bad choice.

Watchable.

The actors are mostly likable. The plot is amiable enough too. Thing is, it's been done before, and done much better. Consider Debbie Reynolds and Toni Curtis in 'Goodbye Charlie' (1964), or the Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin masterpiece, 'All of Me', where he acts out the movie while being possessed by a woman. Or one-hit-wonder Joyce Hyser's 'Just One of the Guys', where she becomes a guy (I forget why). Or the semi-good 'The Hot Chick', with the creepy Rob Schneider and the ever-so-hot babe, Anna Farris. All those movies explored the notion of girls and boys living in each other's bodies. Weener jokes, 'Hey, I got tits!' jokes, stumbling in high heels, 'delicate flower' young ladies belching at the formal dinner table, etc., etc. There is even a cinemagraphic grammar about that whole thing by now.

Not to say there wasn't some appeal here. The cast is likable. Although the dude did seem really, really gay, even when he was not being possessed by a girl, but supposedly his own male self. I couldn't tell the difference. But the young woman actor who had to play a guy trapped in a girl's body managed really well. But there was also the obligatory black guy side kick, bitchy bimbo girl rivals, an unsympathetic 'Desperate Housewives' type mom, and cool slob parents, played by Sharon Osbourne (yaaay!) and Maury Chaykin (also yaay, but for different reasons).

All in all, nothing 'wrong'. Nothing unpleasant nor unlikeable. Just kind of shallow, and very derivative. There was a group of what seemed to be 14 year old kids sitting up in the back of the movie theater I attended, and they laughed and oohed and ahhhed a little bit at some lame-ish jokes. Well, great! I hope they liked it. But I suspect that they are probably the major audience that would find this movie appealing or interesting. And that's OK. I gave it a 5 out of 10--- nothing bad, but also nothing great... just ordinary.

An up-tight, straight-A student swaps bodies with her diametrically opposite in the form of the popular quarter back. Antics unfold as the two are forced to (literally) spend sometime walking in the others shoes.

Variations of this theme have been done before in "Big", "All of me" and of course "Freaky Friday."

The format lives or dies by the actors and how effectively and how humorously they can enact the transposition.

It worked for me, the characters were interesting and I became embroiled in their personal issues. I also liked the actors and was impressed with their skill and the direction.

At the end of the day this is a teen flick which has to serve a specific audience. It has the obligatory dose of teen angst and goofy comedy. But this all works well and I found it highly enjoyable.

Good Film Flex fodder