Get Over It

This high school movie sees scriptwriter R Lee Fleming Jr play loose variations on A Midsummer Night's Dream - a rock-musical production of which features prominently and provides the climax - and headlines dimpled Dunst. Though she is on screen virtually throughout, her role calls for her to take an emotional backseat as helpmate to the potentially endearing sufferings of senior Foster (who can't get over being dumped by svelte but shallow Sagemiller). The tongue in cheek atmosphere is established early on: in a scene pitched somewhere between Gracie Fields propaganda and Farrelly Bros pastiche, cast members fall in step to perform Neil Sedaka's 'Love Will Keep Us Together'; cinematographer Maryse Alberti ensures the candy pop colours don't turn sickly; and thought-balloon graphics prick any pomposity in the characters' amusing fortune cookie philosophies. So far so likeable. So why does the film gently disappoint? Caricatured teachers are a teen movie staple, but Martin Short's elephantiasis-affected drama teacher is a lazy, irritating miscalculation; the music is too often crudely interpolated; and director O'Haver fails to supply any proper shape or development.