The cast is by far the best part of the forgotten 2010s comedy, You Again. Kristen Bell stars, a few short years before she would be in the megahit Frozen. Alongside her we get genre icons, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver, who haven’t shared the screen before and they haven’t since. No, it isn’t horror movie monsters they’re going up against this time — fingers crossed they do make that project. In this revenge comedy, they have to deal with an old rivalry from high school. Then there’s comedy legend Betty White who is a sweet granny until her own rival appears. And that isn’t to leave out the other co-stars and cameos! Is there any good, decent time to be petty for a small amount of revenge? You Again makes a case for that, and if it’s done by these actresses, it makes it even better. There’s a teaching lesson about forgiveness, but the real fun is damaging time capsule videos, ripped dresses, getting pushed into the pool, and dance-off fails.
Kristen Bell Refuels an Old Rivalry in 'You Again'
High school sucks. Some teens peak and fade out after graduation. For other teens, they stay on the sidelines to wait those four years out. For other, other teens, they might just have to deal with bullies. You Again has Marni Olsen (Kirsten Bell) deal with horrible memories of the demoralizing jabs she suffered in high school. Now older, Marni’s glowing career as a PR executive can make her life look pretty perfect. Which means, it’s time to scramble it all up. Her brother Will (James Wolk) is engaged to Marni's old bully, Joanna (Odette Annable), forcing Marni to relive those terrible and awful high school days. It seems Joanna doesn’t even remember her prey. That sounds suspicious, so Marni decides to help her recollect, even if she turns into a bully herself.
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The Who’s Who in the Star-Studded Cast of ‘You Again’
Then there’s Marni’s mom, Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), who tries to help Marni keep the peace. It’s easy for her to say. To have her eat her words, Joanna’s aunt soon arrives. Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) just so happens to be Gail’s ex-best friend, but a prom night disaster effectively ended their friendship. Grandma Bunny (Betty White) will request some help with her dentures and proudly give out her Twitter account to get a date. The always reliable Victor Garber plays the father of the Olsen family, a kind of lovable oddball who wears a blindfold at dinner to help with his diet. Broadway icon Kristin Chenoweth even shows up as a hyper-active dance instructor, who barely unravels in her vertical dance showcase. Then there is the abundance of cameos.
In a small appearance, there’s Jenna Leigh Green from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch as a flight attendant who has to put up with an outburst from Marni once she realizes who Joanna is. Green’s role brings with it a great bit of irony, as she was the bully to the main witch on that '90s sitcom. Reginald VelJohnson (Family, Matters, Die Hard) is Marni’s boss and Dwayne Johnson is an air marshal with strong listening skills for Marni who needs to vent while on a plane mid-flight. There’s an appearance by Hall & Oates, who sing to start off a wedding celebration. And Cloris Leachman appears, holding her own grudge against Betty White's character. That’s all fun, but You Again entertains when it focuses on the leading women and the pairings are fantastic.
Kristen Bell and Odette Annable stretch their rope of tension as Marni and Joanna. The two keep pulling at their relationship in passive-aggressive ways, thinking the other is in the wrong. Curtis and Weaver can’t let bygones be bygones, Gail and Ramona find ongoing opportunities to compete with each other. “How long has it been!” Ramona blurts upon their early, unexpected reunion, “Well, don’t tell or I’ll have to strangle you.” They race when the traffic light turns green and get into accidental pool plunges. As for Betty White, this would end up being her last live-action film role. She went on to do Hot in Cleveland, and voice acting performances. All the drama from all these pairings and their own dislike for each other is one coincidence on top of an avalanche pile of them. It’s a small world in You Again, with even an unofficial Easter egg to another Jamie Lee Curtis comedy. Hawkeye viewers might look at the Pacific Palisades exterior house location of the Olsen residence and realize they have seen it before, in Freaky Friday, and the house looks as luxurious as it was back then.
Don't Take ‘You Again’ Too Seriously
It isn’t hard to see why You Again came and went. This is a comedy that needed to pack more of a punch or go further with the screwball scenarios. The best visual gag is a simple one. After Marni and her mother spot their archenemies from high school, a heavenly glow appears over them, followed by an ethereal wind blowing through the hair of Annable and Weaver. You Again is over-the-top and leaves behind a good chunk of the rationality to reality. This movie ended up winning the 2010 Women Film Critics Circle award in its Hall of Shame, alongside Black Swan and Inception. For You Again, its admittance was, “For perpetuation of the same-old same-old stereotypes of hysterical insecure women and reasonable, sage men.”
The script has its lead actresses fall into behavior that is better left behind in high school. What might really sour one’s viewing experience, is how easy Joanna gets off from her bullying days. She does deserve her comeuppance, and it does hit her, but the frequency with which characters try to tell Marni to rise above her old bully, to be the bigger person, falls flat. They end up sounding insensitive. Let’s be serious, although You Again goes all out in how unruly the main women behave, the men are not reasonable or any better because they take the so-called high road. Garber is the quiet, wise father, who lets things roll off his back, especially for experiences that belong to his wife or daughter. The most frustrating character isn't even Joanna, it’s Marni’s brother Will. He is so ignorant with regard to his sister’s bullying back in the day. During one incident, Joanna causes Marni to cause Will to lose a school basketball game, which he gets all moody about. And he’s just as oblivious to his younger sister's dilemma in the present day. When Marni finally gets her revenge, her brother is furious she ruined what should have been his day.
The set pieces get the laughs they do because of the actresses. Britney Spears' “Toxic” is too good to not be used, playing during a dance scene where rivals try to out-dance each other. What they need to work on, isn’t their archenemy status, it’s on their rhythm. Grandma Bunny is busy swinging on an aerial hammock, while Gail attempts to show off for Ramona, lunging at Mark, who is a few decades too old for that catch. It’s best to not take this movie too seriously. You Again is worth watching on Disney+ to see these actresses share the screen and get caught up in them dishing out their payback, even if it's because they are hysterical or insecure. The women get petty so they can release their pent-up frustrations, unlike the men who are too easily unbothered.
