Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore), copywriter at the Chicago Sun Times, claims that she’s never been kissed. Thus, the movie title. However.. she vaguely explains that she has been kissed, but has never felt “that spark.” The actual title of the movie being this misleading was only the first thing to put me off the film.
Now, for someone who can boldly claim she’s never been kissed despite the wishy washy definition she’s given that phrase, Josie Geller can’t lie to save her life which becomes an immediate problem when she goes undercover as a high school student to write an exposé.
What follows is a brutal and humiliating repeat of Josie’s high school years as she befriends the nerds and becomes an immediate target for the popular clique. Not to side with the bullies here, but Josie and her newsroom friends did such poor research on high school students that they couldn’t even put together a nondescript teenage outfit for day one. (See the white feathery getup below.)
In order to get the juiciest, most newsworthy gossip, Josie is told that she must become popular. Of course, that’s all teenage Josie ever wanted. It’s only with help from her adult brother Rob (David Arquette), who was alarmingly able to enroll himself as a high school student in about a day, that she is finally able to break into the popular crowd and start work on a story.
Now things get even dicier, because Josie falls for none other than her teacher. While her adult brother is dating high school girls, Josie’s teacher becomes attracted to who he thinks is a high school girl.
I won’t spoil the ending, but this movie tried so hard and failed spectacularly on every level. Understandably, the movie was counting on its absurdity but the pros just didn’t outweigh the cons.
Normally I am a big fan of Drew Barrymore, in fact her Danielle in Ever After is one of my favorite characters, but this movie was not for me. I give Never Been Kissed a 2/10. I’d only watch this film if you want to witness a pretty surreal trainwreck.
The Midnight Review 