Netflix’s new gender swapped update of 1999’s She’s All That is here, but it has some trouble understanding what worked in the original.
When TikTok influencer Padgett Sawyer (real TikTok influencer Addison Rae) is left unceremoniously by her boyfriend, she bets her friends that she can make the school’s biggest loser prom king. But when she starts hanging out with the misanthropic Cameron Kweller (Cobra Kai’s Tanner Buchanan), she discovers his softer side and falls in love with him. After a Katy Perry duet, a suspiciously simple makeover, and a big prom drama, can they be together despite their differences?
With appearances by She’s All That actors Rachael Leigh Cook and Matthew Lillard, as well as a certain iconic needle drop, the film is a love letter to its predecessor, but it doesn’t make it all alone.
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Update a classic
Much of what He’s All That does to update She’s All That is pretty clever. The new movie’s focus on TikTok influencers (including a starring role for Rae and a minor role for Kourtney Kardashian) is more than just an attempt to keep up with Gen-Z viewers. It’s a direct nod to the original.
She’s All That included MTV’s The Real World, with a main character dating one of the show’s stars. This linked the film to the emerging reality TV boom of the day. Comparing high school hierarchies to celebrity culture was a smart move, and it’s one that He’s All That emulates quite well, with teenage influencers representing the cable TV stars of yore.
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He’s All That also conspicuously swaps the sexes of the central pair – a little less skillfully. The bet at the center of both films can work either way, but at its core it has to lead to some kind of interesting character development. It’s all that doesn’t really give us.
That big sticking point for me was that Padgett isn’t as carelessly cruel as Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Zack in the original, and that mitigates the blow of their perceived betrayal.
He’s All That gives his “mean” lead some depth
She’s All That was built on opposites. A wealthy, thoughtless athlete who has everything in his hands picks the shy, bullied artist whose single father can barely make ends meet. This has admittedly led to some two-dimensional traces.
He’s all Padgett is is not rich. Her single mom is scratching over to make sure they can live in the rich neighborhood that gives Padgett access to better schools. It is not mean, but rather thoughtful. We first see her bring gluten-free croque-en-bouches to school for her pop star boyfriend as she takes care of him and his new food restrictions.
And Cameron isn’t really bullied. Rather, he actively alienates his classmates. He thinks he’s better than her. In truth, he actually needs an attitude adjustment.
This premise lives or dies from the tension between the main characters.
These are realistically complex characters, and Rae and Buchanan have great chemistry. He’s all he deserves to avoid (up to a point) the stereotypes of teenage cookie cutters. But that all makes the stakes on Padgett’s bet appear lower. Padgett certainly crosses the line, but it’s actually pretty easy to forgive when we see how sincere she is and how much disrespect she has to endure from the Holiness Cameron.
Maybe this whole trope was killed when Not Another Teen Movie thoroughly sent it in 2001, but there still has to be more tension between these two. Lovers from different worlds have to bump into each other a little harder to sell the formula. Valley Girl got it. Titanic got it. The original of She’s All That has it all. But He’s All That goes too safe and never lets us get mad at either star.
The premise is somewhat lost in the mix
By updating the basic premise of She’s All That to add depth to the main characters and bridging the gap between cool kids and losers, He’s All That pretty much watered down its own themes.
The premise of the original works because it’s the athlete who has to grow and prove himself to the unpopular girl. She gets a superficial makeover (loses the ponytail and glasses) but she doesn’t really have to change to impress him. He has to learn why what he did was wrong and why he misjudged her from the start.
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He takes all of that away. (Well, we’re still getting the makeover, in which case we’re getting rid of Camron’s hat and Stooges t-shirt.)
But there’s nothing wrong with Padgett. Not really. The bet is not very nice. But it is much less common than in the original. This is mainly because Cameron is just being rude and uncomfortable. At least initially. And she was never mean to him – or anyone – from the start. Winning the bet just means finding your softer side so that he is less annoying to people around him.
The film has some pretty funny dialogue. “You don’t deserve my croque-en-bouche, you croque-en-douche,” is a great phrase. And it has some of the quirkiness that made the original fresh, fun, and just plain weird (an impromptu dubbed dance at the prom, anyone?). But it’s content with a little romance when it could really dig into its own chaotic, central conflict.
That would lead to something much more satisfying.
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