The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Jessica Gonzales.
As far as Shakespeare play adaptations go, She’s The Man is by far one of the best. It also has to be Amanda Bynes’ best role of her career. If you’ve read the play Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, you have an idea of how the story goes, but my apologies to the bard, I much prefer this version of the story to the original play.
Amanda Bynes plays Viola, a tough, feminist high schooler whose greatest passion in life, thus far, is playing soccer and excelling at it. A woman after my own heart, she shows off her skills and bravado almost immediately within the first few minutes of the movie. She soon vows, at least in her head, to prove her annoying ex-boyfriend wrong after he says that girls aren’t that good at soccer and could never beat boys or even make the boys’ team in the first place. Viola discovers that her twin brother, Sebastian (James Kirk), is running off to London in lieu of his year of school at Illyria Prep in favor of pursuing his budding music career. Viola’s soccer team at Cornwall gets cut because who cares about girls’ sports, growth, and education programs, right? She soon realizes that Illyria has a notable boys’ soccer team and is actually Cornwall’s (where her ex still plays) rival. She attends Illyria in Sebastian’s place pretending to be a boy. From there ensues a comedy of errors with a cast of characters that includes David Cross, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, and Vinnie Jones.
The hilarity and awkward situations combined with Bynes’s impeccable comedic timing are what really sell this movie for me. Amanda Bynes’ style of comedy is very similar to the great Lucille Ball. She’s very physical and animated, but she also pulls off great subtleties when needed. The movie is full of belly laugh inducing moments. This was a breakout role for Channing Tatum, but he is a bit shaky and awkward in this one. Even with that, I think it luckily worked well with the character of Duke Orsino who Tatum is playing. In the play, the Duke can be a bit dense and flat at times. His only obsession seems to be Olivia who is played by Laura Ramsey in this movie. I think Bynes was able to work with Tatum’s performance, and she even made him look better throughout the movie. The only other cast member that seems to be on her level is David Cross who put in an outstanding, off the wall performance. It is truly one of the best things I’ve seen on screen in my entire life.
The movie, of course, is wrapped up with a neat bow and that satisfaction is matched with a fun, upbeat soundtrack. There is little room for surprises because it’s not like you need to change too much in a story when the source material is a William Shakespeare comedy, but the familiarity is very comforting. It really was a perfect release for its time. If you’re looking for a movie that is light, hilarious, and uplifting with a very high quotability rate, She’s The Man is for you. I only hope that Amanda Bynes can work in the future sometime when she is healthy again, and I’m constantly rooting for her.
Video Quality
She’s The Man makes its Blu-Ray debut with a 1080p transfer that is quite striking and represents a big step up in quality from the dated DVD. While I have no specific details about the transfer, this appears to be derived from a solid older master that shows no signs of age-related wear and tear. For the majority of the film, the transfer looks incredibly clear and detailed with only a couple of shots exhibiting a bit of excessive softness. The transfer is naturally filmic with some impressive detail in the production design and texture of clothing. Colors stand out in a really pleasing manner with bright, vivid hues leaping off the screen in almost every scene. Black levels are pleasing in their depth with not much in the way of crush present. There are no specks of print damage present in the transfer. Overall, I was quite impressed by how strong the presentation was from beginning to end.
Audio Quality
Paramount Home Entertainment brings us this new Blu-Ray with a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that does everything it needs to do really well. From the opening moments, the sounds of a raucous beach soccer game along with a slew of other sounds bring nuanced life to the rear speakers. The movie features many songs from the era which sound great within the mix. The dialogue holds up quite nicely, coming though clearly without being stepped on by the music or sound effects. The environmental effects are delineated nicely and given a dynamic placement throughout the speakers. The film features some rough hits, especially in an intense dream sequence, that allows the low end to show off. This is a track that was way more dynamic than you might expect a teen comedy to be. You could not ask for better.
Special Features
- Commentary #1: Director Andy Fickman, writer/producer Ewan Leslie, and cast members Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Robert Hoffman, and Alex Breckenridge provide a very lively commentary track filled with fun stories from the set and copious amount of playful ribbing of one another. This is a delight that reveals many tidbits that may have been easily overlooked.
- Commentary #2: Writer/producer Ewan Leslie returns with co-producer Lauren Shuler Donner to provide a more focused commentary track that delves even more into the production of the film. There is some overlap between the two tracks, but they are both worth a listen.
- Making The Man: A fifteen-minute featurette which offers an overview of the production of the film from the development of the script, finding the right director, pulling off the big set pieces, training for the film and more. It looks a bit dated, but it gets the job done.
- The Troupe: An eight-minute look at the cast and crew of the film and the qualities that everyone brings to their roles. This an all-around love-fest, which I personally don’t mind.
- Inspired By Shakespeare’s…: A nearly five-minute look at Twelfth Night and how it was updated to fit this new story. The participants discuss some of the homages they paid to the original material via obvious and subtle easter eggs.
- Deleted Scenes: Nearly twelve minutes of unused material comprising nine scenes are provided here which features some more humorous moments with David Cross, Sebastian taking out some anger via healthy revenge, an unused cheerleading routine and more. These scenes can be viewed with optional commentary from director Andy Fickman, writer/producer Ewan Leslie, and Amanda Bynes.
- Gag Reel: Nearly four-minutes of flubbed or forgotten lines, goofing around and other humorous mishaps from the set. This offers plenty of laughs.
- Music Video “Let Go” By Dave Lichens: A three-minute video for this song from the film is provided here.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here in HD. It’s a bit dated with the narration, but it does a good job of setting up the film and not spoiling every single funny moment.
Final Thoughts
She’s The Man is one of the standout teen comedies of the mid-2000s. These films can so easily go off the rails with lousy writing or uneven performances, but all of the disparate elements are working in perfect harmony here. Not only do you have the classic Shakespeare source material guiding you through these hilarious situations, you have an in-her-prime Amanda Bynes going for broke with her lead performance. Even with a generation of fans who appreciate the joy that this film brings, it still feels underappreciated for all that it gets right. We thank Paramount Home Entertainment for finally releasing this one on Blu-Ray with a pleasing A/V presentation and a nice assortment of legacy supplements. This should constitute an easy purchase for fans of the film. Recommended
She’s The Man is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
