Marni was the target of a bully in high school that made her life miserable. After high school, Marni made some changes and how has a successful career. She is horrified when she learns that her older brother is marrying Joanna, the girl who bullied her in high school. It gets worse when Joanna acts like she doesn’t know Marni. Convinced that Joanna is wrong for her brother, Marni decides to try to stop the wedding. Marni’s mother Gail and Joanna’s aunt Ramona went to high school together, but they haven’t seen each other in years. It seems they have lingering issues as well.
I managed to enjoy You Again overall, though it isn’t going to appeal to everyone. Some people will be turned off by the fact that the movie deals with bullying. Some flashbacks are used to show what happened when Marni was in high school and some of those scenes aren’t that pleasant. Joanna was downright cruel, which unfortunately, I think is fairly accurate with how some teenagers act. The movie chooses to deal with the serious subject of bullying in a more humorous and lighthearted way. That may bother some people, especially with the real life bullying incidents that have happened recently.
You Again ends up having the female characters act like unreasonable idiots with how they deal with things. It makes sense that Marni isn’t happy about her brother marrying Joanna or the fact that Joanna acts like she doesn’t remember her. The way that Marni chooses to deal with that makes her look like a manipulative witch. Joanna handles things badly, deciding to make little digs to try to put Marni down instead of dealing with things like an adult. Gail and Ramona don’t deal with their issues any better, ending up in a fight that puts them both in a swimming pool. Instead of trying to deal with problems, the woman act like jealous idiots. The men, even though they are in much less of the movie, are made to look like the only calm, rational people around. At one point, Marni’s father actually sends her and her mother to their rooms. The movie does not portray women in a good way, and that is bound to upset some people.
Even though the women act like idiots, they still manage to be entertaining. Their antics do add some humor to You Again. Much of the humor is more silly in nature, but I do think it manages to work overall. There are a few really funny moments in the movie, though other things that are intended to be funny don’t really work. The plot isn’t the most original since other movies have featured characters that have been miserable in high school. Having Marni’s tormentor marry her brother is a bit different, but the movie is still very predictable overall.
There really isn’t much development for any of the characters in You Again. The characters are interesting enough, though it is a bit hard to like many of them. I did think the cast did a good job with what they had to work with.
Overall, You Again has issues, but it can be entertaining overall if it isn’t taken seriously. Fans of the cast may find something to like about the movie.
I did get a longer review posted on Epinions.
You Again
You Again
