Never Been Kissed (1999)

USA Today
"...A solid cast and an ingratiating star performance that's as deft in its physical daffiness as it is honest in its emotions..." 04/09/1999 p.5E

Los Angeles Times
"...[Barrymore is] as warm and appealing as she ever was. Maybe even more....An easygoing and amusing romantic confection..." 04/09/1999 p.F2

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Barrymore illuminates it with sunniness, and creates a lovable character....It's funny and big-hearted and it wins us over..." 04/09/1999 p.33

ReelViews 6 of 10
Most of us have a hard enough time surviving high school once. What if we were given the opportunity to do it all over again? How would we react to the second chance? Would we repeat the same mistakes, hang out with the same kind of people, and take the same classes? Or would we try something completely different? For 99.99% of us, the idea of again enduring pep rallies, proms, and graduation is the stuff of dreams (or nightmares). But, for Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore), it's reality - and, considering how traumatic her first trip through high school was, it's not a pleasant reality...Saying bad things about Never Been Kissed, an unapologetic crowd-pleaser, makes me feel like the Grinch stealing Christmas, but there are some things that can't be ignored. Yes, Drew Barrymore is appealingly sweet, and, yes, the storyline offers romantic hope for lovelorn geeks worldwide, but the movie is seriously flawed. Director Raja Gosnell (Home Alone 3) and screenwriters Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein seem to think that, as long as they offer a big, feel-good ending, viewers will forgive the litany of irritants that precede it. And, while that approach may work on those with short attention spans, it made me actively mad at everyone involved in the behind-the-scenes creative process...Distilled to its basic essence, Never Been Kissed is yet another in a long line of teen movies that centers on the emergence of the geek. The best films in this genre evoke a sense of the real pain and angst that occurs during adolescence. And, while there are attempts to do that here, the need to overplay everything for comic effect undermines the goal. Hence, the Josie we see during flashbacks to her real high school years isn't just a nerd; she's a cartoonish nerd, and the humiliation she endures is so extreme that it's difficult to believe even the most socially inept teenager could relate to it. Only Carrie had a worse prom. - James Berardinelli
 
Salon.com 7 of 10
There are some indignities that Drew Barrymore should never be made to suffer: Her sugar-bowl curves should never be hidden away in a boxy suit. Her hair should never be coiled into an uptight little bun. Her lips like cherries -- the kind of thing the Elizabethans used to write whole ballads about -- should never come anywhere near a tube of white lipstick. Unflattering costumes and makeup are just a few of the vagaries actors have to endure in the interest of acting. But there's something uncharitable about taking all that's wonderful about Barrymore -- an allegretto firefly, effervescent yet never so bubbly as to be exhausting -- and withholding it from us, as the lumpy comedy "Never Been Kissed" does. Instead of giving us just a few token scenes' worth of ugly ducklinghood and then restoring to us the Drew we know and love, the movie riffs on the character's awkwardness until we're practically numbed by it. Why bring a star like Barrymore to the party and not invite her to dance?...It's hard to know whom to blame. Barrymore produced the movie herself, and it's likely she welcomed the "stretch" of playing Josie Geller, a nerdy newspaper copy editor who's ultimately transformed by love into a butterfly...By the time of the big prom scene, Barrymore at last has her big transformation. She's snared the cool guy at school as her date, but she outshines him in her dusty-pink 16th century ball gown. The sight of Barrymore in that dress is enough to take your breath away -- it's like a refresher course for anyone who might have forgotten how radiant she was in "Ever After" (although this particular dress only reinforces the idea that she's meant to be a blond). Barrymore is a woman of many different looks, but her two best ones are probably rosy-cheeked Elizabethan babe and late-20th century butterfly-barrette girl. It's a good thing that in "Never Been Kissed" she gets to wear at least one of them. It's just too bad that it's too little, too late. - Stephanie Zacharek