ah , and 1999 was going along so well , too . 
 " she's all that " has the dubious distinction of being the worst movie i've seen so far this year . 
and quite frankly , i doubt i'll see anything equally bad . 
 ( at least , i * hope * i don't see anything equally bad ) . 
 " she's all that " tells the story of the most popular guy in school ( played by freddie prinze jr . ) who accepts a bet to transform the geekiest girl in school ( rachel leigh cook ) into the most popular . 
that , right there , is problem #1 . 
how many times have we seen this storyline ? 
as cook comments near the end of the film , " it's kind of like " pretty woman " , except without the prostitution " . 
of course , had the filmmakers attempted to try something new with this material , the well-worn storyline would have been a device to propell the movie forward . 
as it is , though , " she's all that " relies * completely * on the lame and overused formula to push it ahead . 
there's not one original or interesting character in the film , either , and if that wasn't bad enough , there's not one good performance featured . 
the star of the movie , rachel leigh cook , is simply horrible . 
i usually don't like to get so personal , but in this case , i think it needs to be said . 
cook wears the same expression throughout the flick and looks to be having as miserable a time as i was . 
i was never convinced that she was a " nerd " , and her transformation was unconvincing and unnecessary . 
the movie seems to be saying it's better to be popular than to be who you are . 
as for freddie prinze jr . , an actor i ordinarily enjoy , he too is quite bad here . 
he coasts through the film on so-called charm , and never establishes a real character . 
kieren culkin is here , too , as the brother of cook . 
and for some indiscernable reason , he's got hearing aids . 
no explanation is given and they're never brought up . 
were we supposed to feel * sorry * for him just because he wore hearing aids ? 
i don't think so . 
that single element of the film was one of the most offensive things i've seen in a movie in a long time . 
 " she's all that " sucks . 
that's what it boils down to . 
it's not entertaining , and it's not even a good time passer . 
the hour and a half running time goes by slower than a 5 minute hair-removal system informercial . 
and what's worse , it sends out a bad message to teens . 
it appears to be telling them , " hey , it doesn't matter if you're happy the way you are . 
that's unimportant . 
if you want to * truly * be happy , dress in the latest fashions and act like a bubble-headed moron . " 
ugh .