Boys and Girls is a 2000 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Iscove. The two main characters, Ryan (played by Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Jennifer (Claire Forlani), meet each other initially as adolescents, and later realize that their lives are intertwined through fate.
Video Boys and Girls (2000 film)
Plot
Jennifer Burrows and Ryan Walker meet as 12-year-olds aboard an airplane, and are immediately at odds. Later, Ryan is mascot to his high school, while Jennifer is elected Homecoming Queen of hers. During the halftime ceremony between the two schools, Ryan is chased by the rival mascots and loses his mascot head, only to find it run over by Jennifer's ceremonial car. Jennifer later finds Ryan and tries to console him about his costume. The two part ways once more, realizing they are too different.
A year later, Ryan and Jennifer are students at UC Berkeley. Ryan is in a steady relationship with his high school sweetheart, Betty, and Jennifer is having a fling with a musician. Ryan meets his roommate Hunter (aka Steve), a self-described ladies' man with countless elaborate (and unsuccessful) ploys for sleeping with women. Jennifer moves in with her best friend Amy after she and her boyfriend break up. Ryan and Amy start going out, and he renews his friendship with Jennifer, even after Amy has her "breakup" with him for her. They take walks, console each other over break-ups, and gradually become best friends. Jennifer even talks Ryan into dating again, as he starts seeing a girl named Megan.
One night, in a cynical mood towards love, Jennifer breaks down and Ryan tries to console her. To their equal surprise, the two make love. Afraid of commitment, Jennifer says that sleeping together was a mistake, and that they should pretend it never happened. Hurt and lovesick, Ryan breaks up with Megan and withdraws into his studies. As months pass, Jennifer graduates and readies herself to travel to Italy. She encounters Ryan, who she has not seen since their night together, at a hilltop overseeing the Golden Gate Bridge. Ryan confesses his feelings towards her, but she tells him that she does not feel the same way. He wishes her well in Italy, and leaves.
On the shuttle to the airport, Jennifer passes the same hilltop where the two used to spend time together and realizes she indeed loves Ryan. She immediately races back to her apartment and finds Amy frantically getting dressed to greet her. Steve confidently strolls out of Amy's bedroom and tells Jennifer that Ryan is heading back on a plane to Los Angeles. While waiting for departure, Ryan hears Jennifer confess her love for him in Italian. After a little convincing, and feeling the wrath of a flight attendant, the two rekindle their romance where they first met -- on an airplane.
Maps Boys and Girls (2000 film)
Cast
- Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Ryan Walker
- Claire Forlani as Jennifer Burrows
- Jason Biggs as Hunter / Steve
- Amanda Detmer as Amy
- Heather Donahue as Megan
- Alyson Hannigan as Betty
- Monica Arnold as Katie
- Brendon Ryan Barrett as Young Ryan Walker
- Raquel Beaudene as Young Jennifer Burrows
- David Smigelski as Homecoming King
- Blake Shields as Homecoming Knight
- Gay Thomas as N.Y. Flight Attendant
- Renate Verbaan as Farting Super Model
Production
The script was written by Andrew Lowery and Andrew Miller, two actors who started writing together. They signed a deal with Miramax of which this was the first.
The film reunited the director and star of She's All That.
Iscove said Prinze "wanted to blow away that good-looking guy image and grow as an actor" by playing a geek. Prinze said, ""Most people won't give me a chance to play something different than the good-looking guy. But I love trying new things; I love doing something I haven't done before, and the chance to play a geek was the reason I accepted this role in the first place."
Prinze added that "I set out a goal when I was making She's All That to do three movies for a specific generation that kind of spoke to them. I did She's All That, Down to You, and Boys and Girls. Now, I've graduated from high school and college for a while."
Anna Friel signed to play the female lead. Friel then pulled out shortly before filming was to start due to reported "artistic differences" and was replaced by Claire Forlani. Reports differed over whether Frield was fired or quit due to unhappiness with the script.
The film features a dance number similar to She's All That where everyone dances to "Can't Stop the Rock". Forlani said she was given minimal notices to do it. "They literally pull me into this room with 30 dancers who for two days have been learning a routine that I have to learn in half an hour. And it was really complicated, too. I was in the corner ... and they ordered like, the Gap kids ... and I thought, 'Oh f***, I'm doomed! And Freddie said, 'Oh, I can do it.' And I said, 'Well, that's because you're not meant to get it right.'"
Jason Biggs made the film after his breakthrough role in American Pie. It was the first in a two picture deal he had with Miramax.
Prinze said that Harvey Weinstein had wanted to put a sword fight in She's All That and on this film "we got a note from Harvey that said they wanted to put a sword fight into that one, too, which made no sense because it was a contemporary piece, and Jason Biggs played an architecture student! Those were the crazy notes you'd get from the studio back in the day. I don't understand how Miramax directors didn't all go insane."
Reception
The film received mainly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 11% based on reviews from 62 critics, with an average rating 3.8 out of 10.
Box office
The film opened at #6 at the North American box office, making approximately $7 million USD in its opening weekend.
References
External links
- Boys and Girls on IMDb
- Boys and Girls at AllMovie
- Boys and Girls at Rotten Tomatoes
Source of article : Wikipedia
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