Never Been Kissed (1999)

(In theaters, August 1999) Thank goodness that the screenwriter didn’t take his script seriously! What could have been a tedious exercise in yet-another-teen-romance-that-ends-at-the-prom suddenly becomes an acceptable film with some greater resonance than what we might expect. Some choice gags (“The Simpsons” theme, a Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas flashback, etc…) pepper the film, making it seems far more clever than it truly is. Leelee Sobieski shines as the Hollywood hot-babe- with-glasses-so-we’re-supposed-to-know- she’s-smart-and-ugly. The movie falls flat near the end, as a long-awaited confession cuts off a half-dozen plot threads in thirty seconds, but the rest is okay.