He’s All That Review
Like the social media industry the film tackles, He’s All That is all style and no substance with nothing real to say.
As a child of the ’90s with a healthy appetite for teen comedies of the era, I would be lying if I said there wasn’t some part of me that was excited for the She’s All That gender-swap remake, He’s All That. Unfortunately, the excitement well dried up quickly.
In all fairness, it was always going to be an uphill battle for director Mark Waters and writer R Fleming Lee Jr.- also credited as the writer on She’s All That- to create something truly original. He’s All That is, after all, a reboot of an adaptation (She’s All That) of another popular film (My Fair Lady), which is an adaptation itself of a famous play (Pygmalion). But even if the film lacks anything new to say, it still has to be entertaining. And there is nothing all that entertaining from this modernized take on the story that is far too often uneven and uninteresting.
For those unfamiliar with She’s All That, the story follows Zach (Freddie Prinze Jr.), a popular senior who bets one of his friends that he can take the school pariah, Laney (Rachael Leigh Cook), and turn her into the prom queen. As you can imagine, teen hijinks ensue as Zach and Laney fall in love.
He’s All That, more or less, follows the same general plot, including some beats that feel ripped straight out of its source material. Assuming the role of Zach is Padgett, played by TikTok star Addison Rae. Padgett is well known for her Instagram channel that helped her land a lucrative brand sponsorship. She is a popular figure but hides her family’s lower economic status under the gloss of her social media persona.
Padgett’s social life is turned upside down after finding her aspiring musician boyfriend Jordan (Peyton Meyer) cheating on her with a backup dance- a discovery broadcasted to all her followers during a live stream. Naturally, Padgett responds poorly, including indulging in some baked good on deadbeat boyfriend violence. But the damage is done. She is no longer trending for the right reasons, losing her sponsorship after becoming known as bubble girl when a not-so-flattering meme circulates the internet.
All is not lost for Padgett, though. In an attempt to revive her image in the eyes of her former sponsor, Padget accepts a bet from rival Alden (Madison Pettis) to turn the school’s least popular student, Cameron (Tanner Buchanan), into prom king. You know, because cosmetic companies care about an influencer’s ability to take social outcasts and make them prom king. If you start to think about it too much, the whole thing unravels, so it’s just best to let it be.
But therein lies the problem with what Fleming and Waters are trying to achieve. The duo wants to challenge the idea of self-identity and worth in the age of social media, yet it feels like the film never wants the audience to think too hard about what is happening on screen. Because when you do, you find the film never leaves the shallow end of the pool, resulting in a hollow story.
Of course, you could make the same argument for She’s All That. But what made She’s All That a box office success was not the story. It was the chemistry between Cook and Prinze Jr. that stood out to audiences, something He’s All That severely lacked.
Rae, in particular, stands out for a lacking performance. She is never fully able to move past the prim and polished presentation style she expertly mastered as a real-life social media influencer. While this certainly fits Padgett’s personality, Rae’s performance doesn’t allow room for the pathos or gravitas needed for her more emotional scenes. I can’t help but think of her speech at the end as she declines the prom queen title. In a moment meant to evoke sympathy for the character, Rae comes off as wooden.
Tanner Buchanan does his best to carry his co-star, but there is just too much weight for his poorly wigged shoulders to bear. Cameron is the type of angsty teen we have come to know in these comedies, a beanie-wearing anti-establishment outsider who likes photography. I know…what a weirdo.
This trite treatment of Cameron leaves little room for Buchanan to explore the character, representing a waste of an actor with a proven ability to tap into a character’s emotional side. At least he got to pull out some of that Cobra Kai training for a scene.
He’s All That ultiamtely presents as a cheap-looking imitation of its predecessor, featuring parties, dance-offs, and even the famous line about being a bet. There is nothing substantially different necessitating the reboot, and, outside of using Rae’s popularity to bring new eyes to Netflix, I still don’t really know what the point was. There is promise here. The cast features some intriguing young talent outside of Rae, and the premise, while outdated, is still interesting enough to succeed. Water and Fleming simply don’t do enough with either to justify the film’s existence. Like most social media, He’s All That is all style and no substance with nothing real to say.
