The Kristen Bellathon continues with Touchstone Pictures You Again.
The Plot
Marni is a successful PR executive who is coming home for her brother Will’s wedding. When she realizes that her soon to be sister-in-law is her high school bully Joanna, Marni wants to do anything to stop the wedding.
Her mother Gail thinks she needs to leave things in the past, but Gail is taken aback by the appearance of her former high school friend and rival Ramona, who is Joanna’s aunt. As the wedding day approaches, both Marni and Gail need to confront the issues of their past to build a better future, while ensuring that Will and Joanna get married.
The Good
Kristen Bell as usual shines in her role. Marni is a complicated character because on one hand, she could be a vile and miserable, but Bell never lets the audience hate her. By giving Marni a spark of kindness and humanity, the audience empathizes with Marni even when she is doing something that is completely wrong.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver are perfect together and need to make more movies as costars. They play off each other so well and watching them try to outdo one another in front of the family is hilarious.
The rest of the cast is stacked, from Kristen Chenoweth, Victor Garber, and even Betty White, You Again is overflowing with talented actors that make this story, which has been done a million times before in a variety of ways, relatable and fresh.
The Bad and the Ugly
I’ve seen this movie before. Plenty of times. The variations on this story of the lead character trying to deal with the ramifications of a high school bully is not a new concept. Even Rick Moranis did it with Big Bully. You Again doesn’t break any new ground.
Betty White should have had more to do in the film. She was a comedic legend and had little screen time where she could have made Grandma Bunny a stronger, more important character. The Proposal was the perfect use of White, You Again missed out.
The overall theme of the movie is insecurity, and how the characters deal with it. If anything in that previous sentence is a no go for you, then I recommend you skip this movie.
Beyond the Film Facts
- Marni’s family home is the same home that Freaky Friday used, which Jamie Lee Curtis also starred in.
- Patrick Duffy has a small role at the end of the film.
- Cloris Leachman has a small role at the wedding.
- Catherine Bach, who plays a character named Daisy in the film, was also Daisy Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard television show.
- The film is one of the last solo productions by Touchstone before partnering with other major companies for future films.
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has an uncredited role as an Air Marshall.
- Daryl Hall and John Oats are the wedding band.
- Reginald VelJohnson of Family Matters and Die Hard, plays Marni’s boss.
- When the movie opened it landed in the fifth spot at the box office for a weekend take of just over eight million dollars.
- The rivalry between Betty White and Cloris Leachman’s character is a play on their character’s rivalry from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The Streamy Award
{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale.
1 Reel-Watch on your Smartphone, 2 Reels-Tablet Time, 3 Reels-Travel Entertainment, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}
You Again has been lambasted by critics for perpetuating stereotypes about hysterical women and the wise sage men. I understand where that criticism is coming from. But I look at the film a little more deeply and see a movie that is showing audiences that no matter how old you are, the conflicts of the past can resurface at any age. You can’t run from your past.
You Again is not the best film, but it is hardly the worst, and that’s why it gets a 2 Reels rating. If you are looking for a movie to have on in the background as you make dinner or run on the treadmill then this fits the bill.
Cast and Crew
- Kristen Bell as Marni
- Odette Annabelle as Joanna
- James Wolk as Will
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Gail
- Victor Garber as Mark
- Sigourney Weaver as Ramona
- Betty White as Grandma Bunny
Directed by Andy Fickman
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Frontier Pictures / Oops Doughnuts Productions
Release Date: September 24, 2010
Budget: $20 million
Box Office Gross
Domestic: $25,702,053
Worldwide: $32,054,369
Coming Soon
In honor of the release of Jurassic World Dominion we look back at the time when Touchstone Pictures stepped into the dinosaur world with Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.