“He’s All That” (Netflix) is a cute riff on 1999’s “She’s All That” – which was itself a riff on “My Fair Lady.” It includes modern things like emojis and messages scrolling up the side of the screen as beauty product/fashion influencer Padgett (Addison Rae) live-chats with her followers. Rae and co-star Tanner Buchanan (“Cobra Kai”), as Cameron, are both likable and the film is slick and easy to watch.
Role reversals
It’s also utterly inconsequential as it pulls from not only its namesake (retaining the ’90s youth colloquialism that doesn’t fit here but is needed for branding) but basically all teen movies. Writer R. Lee Fleming Jr., returning from “SAT,” sometimes recycles clichés into new positions. For example, the girl who pretends to be rich in order to be cool might not be the one you’d think.
For another example, Cam loves horses in the way girls love unicorns, as his kid sister (Isabella Crovetti) puts it. But he’s not gay, or even effeminate. “HAT” has many clichés, but it’s also a little more progressive than “SAT” in that Fleming Jr. is now open to any personality type fitting any role.
“He’s All That” (2021)
Director: Mark Waters
Writer: R. Lee Fleming Jr.
Stars: Addison Rae, Tanner Buchanan, Madison Pettis
That might explain why swapping genders for the two leads and a few other roles doesn’t make this film land any differently than the original.
When we learn Cam’s bestie Nisha (Annie Jacob) is gay, as is a member of Padgett’s friend group, it’s basically throwaway information in 2021. In 1999, “SAT” didn’t include any openly gay characters. Laney’s guy bestie was inexplicably Just Not That Into Her, but he liked Anna Paquin’s character.
A rote central conflict
But make no mistake, nothing substantial in “HAT” will catch you off guard. It’s so lightweight that the most inevitable moment – Cam finding out he’s the subject of a bet – is also the least believable. In that moment, Cam is angry because director Mark Waters tells Buchanan he’s supposed to be.
The rest of the time, Rae (herself a professional influencer) and Buchanan have smooth chemistry. Every time Padgett breaks away from her mean-girl friends to spend time with Cam, it’s a sigh of relief for her and the viewer. Cam resists her interest, but barely; he’s a cultivated outsider, but also a polite person.
Aside from the forced “I can turn a loser into the prom king” bet, “HAT’s” conflicts come from over-the-top meanies like Madison Pettis in the gender-swapped Paul Walker role and Peyton Meyer in the Matthew Lillard role.
Meyer has fun as ridiculous and inexplicably-still-in-high-school pop star Jordan Van Draanen, who could’ve been a member of Dujour in “Josie and the Pussycats,” a Rachael Leigh Cook movie about phony image-making.
Speaking of Cook, the “SAT” star is in “HAT” as Padgett’s mom. And another delightful cameo comes later, although you’ll be given a chance to guess it earlier.
The same message
Ultimately, “HAT” has the same message as “SAT,” but it feels less substantial now: Padgett has changed Cam on the outside, but he was already well-adjusted on the inside. Cam’s influence has allowed Padgett to dump her bad boyfriend and friends, but she would’ve figured that out eventually.
Before seeing the film, I thought maybe it should be a sequel, with Cook playing Laney again and giving advice to her daughter based on her own experience. Maybe pepper in some winks about how bizarrely similar the experiences are.
But “HAT” isn’t into relentless blunt callbacks (a tip of the hat for that choice); the only too-far moment is when Buchanan’s character shows martial-arts skills out of nowhere. “HAT” riffs on the original’s soundtrack and dance number in fun and classy ways.
Getting back to Cook as the wise mother: No one in “He’s All That” needs advice. These teens are all put-together to begin with. They already know who they are and are fine with it; even the mean girl.
Teens today are savvier. But 22 years ago, they were more interesting.