Boys and Girls (2000 film)

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Boys and Girls
Boys and girls poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Iscove
Written byAndrew Lowery
Andrew Miller
(credited as "The Drews")
Produced byJay Cohen
Lee Gottsegen
Murray Schisgal
Starring
CinematographyRalf D. Bode
Edited byCasey O. Rohrs
Music byStewart Copeland
Production
company
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
June 16, 2000
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million[1] or $30 million[2]
Box office$25.8 million[1]

Boys and Girls is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Robert Iscove. The two main characters, Ryan (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Jennifer (Claire Forlani), meet each other initially as adolescents, and later realize that their lives are intertwined through fate.

Plot[]

12-year-old Jennifer Burrows and 11-year-old Ryan Walker meet aboard an airplane, and are immediately at odds. Later, Ryan (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is the mascot at his high school, while Jennifer (Claire Forlani) is elected Homecoming Queen at hers. During the halftime ceremony between the two schools, Ryan is chased by the rival mascots and loses his mascot head, only to find it run over by Jennifer's ceremonial car. Jennifer later finds Ryan and tries to console him about his costume. The two part ways once more, realizing they are too different.

A year later, Ryan and Jennifer are students at UC Berkeley. Ryan is in a steady relationship with his high school sweetheart, Betty (Alyson Hannigan), and Jennifer is living with a musician. Ryan meets his roommate Hunter, aka Steve (Jason Biggs), a self-described ladies' man with countless elaborate (and unsuccessful) ploys for sleeping with women. Jennifer moves in with her best friend Amy (Amanda Detmer) after she and her boyfriend break up. Ryan and Amy start going out, and he renews his friendship with Jennifer, even after Amy has her "breakup" with him for her. They take walks, console each other over break-ups, and gradually become best friends. Jennifer even talks Ryan into dating again, as he starts seeing a girl named Megan (Heather Donahue).

One night, in a cynical mood towards love, Jennifer breaks down and Ryan tries to console her. To their equal surprise, the two make love. Afraid of commitment, Jennifer says that sleeping together was a mistake, and that they should pretend it never happened. Hurt and lovesick, Ryan breaks up with Megan and withdraws into his studies. As months pass, Jennifer graduates and readies herself to travel to Italy. She encounters Ryan, whom she has not seen since their night together, at a hilltop overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Ryan confesses his feelings towards her, but she tells him that she does not feel the same way. He wishes her well in Italy, and leaves.

On the shuttle to the airport, Jennifer passes the same hilltop where the two used to spend time together and realizes that she indeed loves Ryan. She immediately races back to her apartment and finds Amy frantically getting dressed to greet her. Steve confidently strolls out of Amy's bedroom and tells Jennifer that Ryan is heading back to Los Angeles on an airplane. While waiting for departure, Ryan hears Jennifer confess her love for him in Latin. After a little convincing, and feeling the wrath of a flight attendant, the two rekindle their romance where they first met — on an airplane.

Cast[]

Production[]

The script was written by Andrew Lowery and Andrew Miller, two actors who started writing together. They signed a deal with Miramax of which this was the first.[3]

The film reunited the director and star of She's All That.

Iscove said Prinze "wanted to blow away that good-looking guy image and grow as an actor" by playing a geek. Prinze said, "Most people won't give me a chance to play something different than the good-looking guy. But I love trying new things; I love doing something I haven't done before, and the chance to play a geek was the reason I accepted this role in the first place."[4]

Prinze added that "I set out a goal when I was making She's All That to do three movies for a specific generation that kind of spoke to them. I did She's All That, Down to You, and Boys and Girls. Now, I've graduated from high school and college for a while."[5]

Anna Friel signed to play the female lead.[6] Friel then pulled out shortly before filming was to start due to reported "artistic differences" and was replaced by Claire Forlani. Reports differed over whether Friel was fired or quit due to unhappiness with the script.[2]

The film features a dance number similar to She's All That where everyone dances to "Can't Stop the Rock". Forlani said she was given minimal notices to do it. "They literally pull me into this room with 30 dancers who for two days have been learning a routine that I have to learn in half an hour. And it was really complicated, too. I was in the corner … and they ordered like, the Gap kids … and I thought, 'Oh f***, I'm doomed! And Freddie said, 'Oh, I can do it.' And I said, 'Well, that's because you're not meant to get it right.'"[7]

Jason Biggs made the film after his breakthrough role in American Pie.[8] It was the first in a two picture deal he had with Miramax.[9]

Prinze said that Harvey Weinstein had wanted to put a sword fight in She's All That and on this film "we got a note from Harvey that said they wanted to put a sword fight into that one, too, which made no sense because it was a contemporary piece, and Jason Biggs played an architecture student! Those were the crazy notes you'd get from the studio back in the day. I don't understand how Miramax directors didn't all go insane."[10]

Reception[]

The film received mainly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 11% based on reviews from 62 critics, with an average rating 3.8 out of 10.[11]

Box office[]

The film opened at #6 at the North American box office, making approximately $7 million USD in its opening weekend.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Boys and Girls (2000)". Box Office Mojo.
  2. ^ a b "'CLOSER' STAR FRIEL SPITES MIRAMAX". New York Post. 16 October 1999. p. 10. ProQuest 333872417.
  3. ^ "'Dancing Queen' to be remade for Miramax". The Atlanta Journal the Atlanta Constitution. 14 August 1999. p. D; 2. ProQuest 247137071.
  4. ^ Koltnow, Barry (14 June 2000). "Freddie's ready for stardom MOVIES: Freddie Prinze Jr. goes against the leading-man career track by playing a geek in 'Boys and Girls'". Orange County Register. p. F04. ProQuest 273393937.
  5. ^ Longsdorf, Amy (13 June 2000). "HEY, GOOD LOOKIN' TEEN IDOL FREDDIE PRINZE JR. CAN BE FOUND IN MORE AND MORE COMING ATTRACTIONS". The Record. Bergen County, N.J. p. Y01. ProQuest 425143048.
  6. ^ "Reel lives". The Guardian. 19 August 1999. p. A20. ProQuest 188343352.
  7. ^ http://www.hollywood.com/general/boys-and-girls-claire-forlani-interview-57162833/[full citation needed]
  8. ^ Hochman, Steve (16 July 2000). "He's Not the Type, but He's the Lead". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ^ "FILM NOTES". The Record. Bergen County, N.J. 31 July 1999. p. y07. ProQuest 425011816.
  10. ^ Stern, Marlow (29 January 2014). "'She's All That' 15th Anniversary: Cast and Crew Reminisce About the Making of the '90s Classic". The Daily Beast.
  11. ^ "Boys and Girls". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. 2000-06-16. Retrieved 2018-08-14.

External links[]

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