Film Review – It’s a Boy Girl Thing

Director: Nick Hurran
Screenplay: Geoff Deane
Cast: Samaire Armstrong, Kevin Zegers, Sharon Osbourne and Mpho Koaho
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Ratings:**

It’s a Boy Girl Thing is about two neighbours and former childhood friends who go to the same high school, but Woody Deane (Kevin Zegers) and Nell Bedworth (Samaire Armstrong), are completely different. Woody is the popular football player while Nell is the nerdy girl. They hate each other, but then one day they go on a school trip to the museum and start arguing in front of a statue of the ancient Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. The statue casts a spell on them, causing them to wake up in each other’s bodies the next day.
After blaming each other for the swap they eventually agree to pretend to be the other person until they can find a way to switch back. This goes well until they start to sabotage each other and make each other look bad in front of the whole school. Meanwhile Woody has a big game to play and there will be scouts at the game and Nell has an interview at Yale. Because of this they have to start working together. Woody teaches Nell how to play football, while Nell preps Woody on Literature. They eventually get close and start to fall in love.

It’s a Boy Girl Thing is a mediocre film, which I would have enjoyed if I were still in high school. But it does have some good lessons to teach its audiences about life, especially young adults on their way to varsity. It also reminds its older audience about the principles they might have had and forgotten about. Even though the film is mediocre, it is still very funny. This was a very pleasant surprise for me. The actors also complemented each other well and their contribution helped to made the film much better even though the script is not all that good. It’s a Boy Girl Thing reminds me of the very popular 1996 film Clueless. If this film was also made in the 1990s it would have been huge, but I have seen a lot of high school films that are better than It’s a Boy Girl Thing, where there are popular kids, nerds and weird kids, who are just trying to find themselves in the world. But eventually everybody gets along at the end and they live happily ever after. Mediocrity at its best.
But I do think kids still go through all the drama portrayed in the film, therefore it is good that films like this are still being made. Just because kids now live in a more digital and advanced age than most of us did and that they seem more mature than when we where kids, it does not mean that they do not experience the typical kid problems that they need help with.
Therefore, rent out this movie and watch it on a lazy Sunday afternoon with you family, the kids will really enjoy this. By the way Sharon Osbourne is brilliant in this film. She is so funny and it was nice to see a different side of her.