Whatever It Takes (2000)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

David Raynr

Writer (WGA):

Mark Schwahn (written by)

Release Date:

31 maaliskuu 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

How low will they go to get the girls of their dreams?

Plot:

A modern-day remake of the Cyrano DeBergerac tale.

Plot Keywords:

Prom | High School | Neighbor | Teen Movie | Tied To Bed

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jodi Lyn O'Keefe	...	Ashley Grant
Shane West	...	Ryan Woodman
Marla Sokoloff	...	Maggie Carter
Manu Intiraymi	...	Dunleavy
Aaron Paul	...	Floyd
Julia Sweeney	...	Kate Woodman
James Franco	...	Chris Campbell
Kip Pardue	...	Harris
Scott Vickaryous	...	Stu
Colin Hanks	...	Cosmo
Richard Schiff	...	P.E. Teacher
Kevin Ruf	...	Security Guard
Erin Champaign	...	Shower Girl
Rachel Zerko	...	Shower Girl
Eric Kushnick	...	Stoner

Also Known As:

Got to Be You (USA) (working title)
I'll Be You (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual material and language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills High School - 241 Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

I'll Be You Productions

Quotes:

Maggie Carter: I just have one last question Chris. How does it feel to be played?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

Soundtrack:

Supersoundic #1

tasteless, predictable, worthless

Curse the makers of 'Can't Hardly Wait' and 'American Pie' for making the movies so successful. Like 'Scream' a few years ago, these movies' and their popularity have spawned a new generation of wannabe rip-offs that put audiences to sleep and give teenagers a bad name. Case in point: 'Whatever it Takes'- a tasteless, predictable, worthless movie about teens eager to do the nasty come prom night. Rhetorical question of the day: "Does the world really need another one of these?" To be fair, this movie has its moments, but none is strong enough to sustain a stinker of this magnitude. It is ironic that the theme to this movie's prom is "Titanic Dreams" because that's about how fast this movie sinks. The movie is about an average high schooler with a heart of gold, Ryan (Shane West), who lusts after the school's gorgeous but shallow queen of popularity (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) Ashley Grant. Unable to attain this dream girl, he strikes a deal with her sleazy cousin (James Franco), who is infatuated with Ryan's gorgeous but unnoticed best friend (Marla Solokoff). Pulling a page out of 'Cyrano', the two instruct each other on how to talk and act in order to get to the hearts of their respective females. One word: Gag. The main problem with the movie is that it does not know how to deliver what it wants to. None of the actors in the movie seem to know what they want to accomplish, except for Franco, who seems hell bent on doing his worst impersonations of Fonzie and Joey from 'Friends'. All of the characters are template and manufactured, clones of all teen movies that came before this.

As a drama, the story tries to take on some flakes of originality, but the screenwriters seem too scared to break out on their own, assuming that teens only like being served the same hash and re-hash every time we go to the theater. And if you can't guess what happens by the end of the movie within the first five minutes, then by all means shell out the cash for the ticket. As a comedy, this movie is seemingly devoid of humor, save a few jokes about farting and vomiting here and there. But for almost two hours, this movie toggles between lunacy and idiocy, leaving the audience willing to do whatever it takes to get their money back.