The plot is totally ridiculous. But if you're the one kind of person who had not coughed out any laugh while watching this movie, you might have been the boringest jerk in the world.
This is Shakespeare's story, based on his play, The Twelfth Night, and first-time director seemed to have pulled out some of his literature book pages and transformed it into a modernised plot of high school silliness. She's The Man is impossibly unlaughable, hilarious at most times, and definitely, one of the best B movies that recently came out this year. And another thing, Amanda Bynes makes this more worthwile than watching any other annoying teenage movies this 2006.
What was actually awesome was that no matter how revolutionary Shakespeare's work could be, no matter what epic it brought to the pages, the creators of this film just threw out the whole rule-book out the window and never took the plot very seriously, which make this comedy more comedic. Naturally, they followed the story. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the lady Viola arrives in a place called Illyria, surviving a shipwreck in which she believed her twin brother, Sebastian, had drowned, and that she decided to pretend as her brother to survive in world of Illyria, a place that's a bit treacherous for women. Now, she goes to work with Orsino, a Duke, who asks her to press his suits for Olivia. But Olivia had no "thing" for the duke; she's in love with Viola, who's pretending to be a man. So that's the whole confusion. I'm not realy sure of the story because I haven't read it personally and I just read this whole summary somewhere else in this ruddy Web world.
OK, in Fickman's She's The Man, it's utterly the same tangled web of love-confusion. Amanda Bynes played as Viola, who's the soccer star of the girls' soccer team in Cornwall High. Since the girls' team was dropped due to unexpected circumstances, she follows what she believe in and took advantage of her brother Sebastian's absence while he went away to London to play music. Now, disguised as a boy, she will prove herself that she could be in the boys' team in Illyria and give out what she's got. She falls with Duke Orsino, the Illyria soccer team captain, who actually made a deal with Sebastian, who is really Viola, to make him go out with Olivia, who's in love with Sebastian, who is really Viola. It's confusing, I know. Just watch the film and you will know what the hell I am blubbering about here (laughs!).
Amanda Bynes is terrific. She's really a talented performer and her work in She's The Man is a job of a true commedienne. She's so funny! As I could remember her in Nickelodeon's All That, she's the same boisterous and hilarious girl. It's impossible not to adore her talent to make people laugh. She could really handle the difficult scenes where she doesn't have to cough many times to alter his girly voice into a boyish one. She could quickly adapt to comic timings, like the fake grimaces and to the oh-my-god-I-forgot-I'm-a-girl situations. For even, she pulled out a great one when the soccer ball hit her crotch without feeling anything at all and hollers: "For the love of God, it burns!" with so much fakeness and cute pretense. Although Bynes DOES NOT look like a real boy, she could pull out her own nasty boyishness. Her poise, her movements are extraordinary. The role was so sunny that only a Bynes could do a stunt like it.
All the characters are all appreciated. Channing Tatum plays Duke Orsino in a good way, giving an emotional touch to masculinity. Sometimes boys need someone to talk to, you know. Laura Ramsey is cute as Olivia. The Headmaster, played by David Cross, was pretty funny! There's no other Headmaster who does gardening, cleaning glass windows and even serving the cafeteria anywhere in the world! Oh, another one. Amanda Bynes proves to be spectacular when her role as Sebastian is a hit to most beautiful women and utters, "Hey, foxy mama..". Also to the scenes where her mum told her to eat and chew like she has a secret, and forced in explaining what were tampons doing in her boot. Well, she did both, in a funny boyish way.
Finally, She's The Man combined two "S's" that I love in this world: Soccer and Shakespeare. Aside from that, the real reason why I like this film is that it's not another teen movie. It's a teen comedy that ducks out of the usual gag stuff. It strives to be original, fresh and basically most of all, it's effortlessly funny. But after all what's being said, it all comes down to Amanda Bynes herself. As what Shakepeare wrote, "Some are born with greatness. Some achieve greatness, and some has greatness thrust upon their selves."
Amanda Bynes is no wonder great. I mean, "Word, G-Money."

Rating: B+