Padgett Sawyer (Addison Rae) is not only the most famous student at her high school, but she is also an Instagram star promoting business mogul Jessica Miles Torres’s (Kourtney Kardashian) beauty products. However, even if she is a successful influencer, she lies about living in a luxurious apartment when she actually lives in a modest Los Angeles home with her divorced mother (Rachael Leigh Cook).
Padgett is in a relationship with Jordan Van Draanen (Peyton Meyer), a rising musician. But they split up after she caught him cheating which seriously harmed both her reputation and sponsorship.
Disheartened, Padgett quickly lost all hope of having a better life for her family.
Unless she does something her fans will love.
So when her best friend Alden (Madison Pettis) bets that she can't turn the most "failure" student she can find into prom king, she immediately accepted the challenge. That's where she met Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan), a social media hater and generally grumpy student. The guy for her project to regain her followers' trust.
It's a mystery why, of all the rom-com movies out there, "She's All That" got a remake ticket when there are certainly other films that deserve it more. “She's All That” is a deeply average movie, and rom coms such as Jamie Babbit's "But I'm a Cheerleader" (which challenges gender roles) or Jon Turteltaub's "While You Were Sleeping" (a film about honesty and loneliness) deserves more attention for a remake. Despite being a decade old, these films are still socially relevant and flexible enough to be given a modern twist.
With that said, “He's All That” suffers from a lack of comprehension of its relevancy and the message it conveys. It doesn't take a strong stance on the issue of authenticity and social media addiction nor does it provide a new perspective on Robert Iscove's classic. In essence, it's not a particularly strong gender-swap remake at all.
Speaking of gender-swapped film, can western producers forgo making more of it and, instead, focus on creating new content that sparks meaningful conversations about sexuality, genuinity and beauty? What’s happening here is executives expect that flipping genders can save old film problems. It is not.
But whether "He's All That" is trying to fix its predecessor’s issue or not, it is impossible to erase the fact that there is a sexism problem in the “She's All That” narrative. The 1999 film objectifies women by degrading them and labeling their insecurities and oddities as problems that need to be fixed. Young people will easily absorb this message as it taps directly into their vulnerability. The truth is being different doesn't mean you are broken.
As said, gender reversal does not solve old film problems; it simply flips them on their heads. “He’s All That” still feeds on the idea that people will only notice, love, and accept you if you begin to change your looks and meet society’s beauty standards. It's as if they're implying that if you're attractive, you're a good person. Which both dangerous and a contradiction in terms of the film's central theme of authenticity.
If "She's All That" created false, unrealistic expectations for young women, "He's All That" does the same for young men who are barely confident.
The main issue is the writing. There is no substance to it, and it is overflowing with bad dialogues. And the characters are problematic and petty as if they were written by a ten-year-old. It's difficult not to feel sorry for Cameron in this film; even if he gets the girl and has a happy ending, everyone around him is manipulating him for their own gain. Addison Rae's Padgett Sawyer, on the other hand, is difficult to love because of his one-dimensional personality and trivial issues.
“He's All That” is a film that should not have existed, but it did. The cast deserves credit for trying their hardest to save it, but a poorly written story like this can't be saved. If Netflix tries this again, I hope they make sure they really understand the message of the film, because movies like "Kissing Booth," "Insatiable," "Sierra Burgess is a Loser," and this could give teenagers unrealistic expectations for their high school years.
"He's All That" is available on Netflix.
So when her best friend Alden (Madison Pettis) bets that she can't turn the most "failure" student she can find into prom king, she immediately accepted the challenge. That's where she met Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan), a social media hater and generally grumpy student. The guy for her project to regain her followers' trust.
It's a mystery why, of all the rom-com movies out there, "She's All That" got a remake ticket when there are certainly other films that deserve it more. “She's All That” is a deeply average movie, and rom coms such as Jamie Babbit's "But I'm a Cheerleader" (which challenges gender roles) or Jon Turteltaub's "While You Were Sleeping" (a film about honesty and loneliness) deserves more attention for a remake. Despite being a decade old, these films are still socially relevant and flexible enough to be given a modern twist.
With that said, “He's All That” suffers from a lack of comprehension of its relevancy and the message it conveys. It doesn't take a strong stance on the issue of authenticity and social media addiction nor does it provide a new perspective on Robert Iscove's classic. In essence, it's not a particularly strong gender-swap remake at all.
Speaking of gender-swapped film, can western producers forgo making more of it and, instead, focus on creating new content that sparks meaningful conversations about sexuality, genuinity and beauty? What’s happening here is executives expect that flipping genders can save old film problems. It is not.
But whether "He's All That" is trying to fix its predecessor’s issue or not, it is impossible to erase the fact that there is a sexism problem in the “She's All That” narrative. The 1999 film objectifies women by degrading them and labeling their insecurities and oddities as problems that need to be fixed. Young people will easily absorb this message as it taps directly into their vulnerability. The truth is being different doesn't mean you are broken.
As said, gender reversal does not solve old film problems; it simply flips them on their heads. “He’s All That” still feeds on the idea that people will only notice, love, and accept you if you begin to change your looks and meet society’s beauty standards. It's as if they're implying that if you're attractive, you're a good person. Which both dangerous and a contradiction in terms of the film's central theme of authenticity.
If "She's All That" created false, unrealistic expectations for young women, "He's All That" does the same for young men who are barely confident.
The main issue is the writing. There is no substance to it, and it is overflowing with bad dialogues. And the characters are problematic and petty as if they were written by a ten-year-old. It's difficult not to feel sorry for Cameron in this film; even if he gets the girl and has a happy ending, everyone around him is manipulating him for their own gain. Addison Rae's Padgett Sawyer, on the other hand, is difficult to love because of his one-dimensional personality and trivial issues.
“He's All That” is a film that should not have existed, but it did. The cast deserves credit for trying their hardest to save it, but a poorly written story like this can't be saved. If Netflix tries this again, I hope they make sure they really understand the message of the film, because movies like "Kissing Booth," "Insatiable," "Sierra Burgess is a Loser," and this could give teenagers unrealistic expectations for their high school years.
0.5/5
"He's All That" is available on Netflix.