Netflix’s ‘He’s All That’ Is Not All That At All

Photo courtesy of Netflix.

He’s All That was released on Netflix on August 27, 2021. The film is a remake of the 1999 classic, She’s All That. The remake follows an influencer, Padgett Sawyer (Addison Rae) who accepts a bet to makeover the least popular guy in school, Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan) into prom king as revenge because of a breakup with her ex-boyfriend, Jordan Van Draanen (Peyton Meyer).

The film is a remake of the 1999 original film, She’s All That. The original film follows Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) who is in the height of his popularity until his girlfriend (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) leaves him for reality TV star Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard). This leads Siler to agree the challenge of making over Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook), a nerdy outcast into the next prom queen.

The 2021 adaptation flips the script and reverses gender roles. Padgett is essentially Zach, Cameron is essentially Laney, Jordan is essentially Brock, and Dean Sampson Jr. (Paul Walker) is essentially Alden (Madison Pettis).

While He’s All That is a retelling of a story that was already told, it was extremely predictable. I haven’t seen the original film in its entirety, just bits and pieces. The story was not exciting or original. The makeover trope is overused and needs to be retired. Also, these names? Padgett and Alden. What is going on?

Oh and the fact that Padgett is an influencer. Boy, didn’t see that one coming. Oh and Kourtney Kardashian’s cameo was just…I honestly have no words.

It wasn’t even that enjoyable because of how predictable it was. In fact, I was waiting for it to be over. I feel that most Netflix rom-coms have shared similar themes. This film reminds me a lot of The Kissing Booth trilogy as it has a predictable story and horrible acting performances. This leads me into my next thought.

The acting in this film was just bad. It didn’t feel genuine, it felt forced. The chemistry between Rae and Buchanan felt forced. It wasn’t natural at all. Addison Rae’s performance was nothing short of mediocre. It could because of the script or something but her performance didn’t deliver. It did the exact opposite.

Tanner Buchanan’s performance was particularly disappointing for me because his performance as Robby Keene in the Netflix series, Cobra Kai, is so good. His character didn’t do much for me.

Madison Pettis’ performance was equally as bad as Addison Rae’s. She was in so many iconic films. What happened here?

The cameos from Rachael Leigh Cook and Matthew Lillard weren’t great. Leigh Cook’s performance wasn’t horrible but Lillard’s was just cringe-worthy.

Let’s be honest, the acting in general in this film was cringe-worthy.

This film begs the following question: Why are remakes a thing? I can’t really answer that. I can say this. Not all remakes are bad. There have been some remakes that I’ve enjoyed.

This was just unnecessary. This film didn’t need to made. No one asked for it. At least I don’t think anybody asked for it.

I believe that the film industry is running out of ideas. They believe remakes are the solution because most of the films being remade have been successful either with critics or audiences or even both. 

If you feel like watching a bad film, here you go.

If you enjoy cringing at things, here you go. 

If you just need a casual watch, here you go.

This film has all that but it’s just not all that.

 

 

He’s All That is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.

Director: Mark Waters

Cast: Addison Rae, Tanner Buchanan, Madison Pettis, Peyton Meyer

Producers: Jennifer Gibgot, Bill Block