Josie Geller is the youngest copy editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and has never had a real kiss. Her editor sends her undercover at South Glen South High School to write about what teenagers are really like. The problem is that Josie was Josie Grossie in high school, with braces, a perm and a prom date who threw eggs at her from a limo, and she is about to live it again. Never Been Kissed is the film Drew Barrymore produced to prove she could carry a studio comedy, and it worked.
What Happens At South Glen South
Josie’s first attempt at being cool fails, badly. Her brother Rob, played by David Arquette, enrols too and becomes popular in a day by eating a tub of coleslaw. She joins the popular girls, led by Jessica Alba’s Kirsten, and finds Aldys, the smart girl who is her at seventeen. Her English teacher, Sam Coulson, played by Michael Vartan, likes her and does not know she is 25. The prom is Shakespeare themed. The ending is on a baseball pitcher’s mound with a countdown, in front of everyone, and it is the kiss.
Why It Has Lasted
Barrymore’s flashbacks as Josie Grossie are the funniest part of the film and she is fearless in them. John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon are the newsroom. Leelee Sobieski as Aldys is the heart of it. Octavia Spencer and Jeremy Jordan have small roles. Beach Boys over the ending.
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