THE HOT CHICK(PG-13)
**** (out of 5)
December 13, 2002
STARRING
Rob Schneider as JESSICA/CLIVE
Anne Faris as APRIL
Rachel McAdams as JESSICA/CLIVE
Matthew Lawrence as BILLY
Directed by: Tom Brady
BY KEVIN CARR
Okay, I will be the first to admit that Rob Schneider is never going to be remembered as a great actor. Rob Schneider is probably never going to be remembered as a great comic actor. Heck, he’s probably not going to be remembered for much more than the “making copies” guy from “Saturday Night Live.” But, I also have to admit that I really liked “The Hot Chick.”
Rob Schneider turned a one-joke concept into a hit with “Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo.” With “The Hot Chick,” he hits a stride that producer Adam Sandler hit with “Billy Madison.” (Let’s just hope that Schneider will keep with his roots of what’s funny and not produce a piece of garbage like “Little Nicky” when he grows up.)
If you’re into high-brow humor, you ain’t gonna find it in “The Hot Chick.” But if you’re looking for dick and fart jokes, this is your film. (And I have to admit, I still giggle at dick and fart jokes.)
Rob Schneider plays Jessica, a snobby high school cheerleader who has miraculously swapped bodies with a local thief named Clive. Jessica (who starts out as newcomer and uberbabe Rachel McAdams) is the typical hot blonde we all hated in high school. She uses her good looks and sexy charm to get everything from free slurpies at the mall to passing grades in class. However, when Jessica buys a pair of cursed earrings and accidentally drops one for Clive to pick up, the two swap bodies.
As a man, Jessica seeks the help from her “bestest friend” April (“Scary Movie” heroine and uber-uberbabe Anne Faris). After Jessica is able to convince April of her plight, the two join forces with the other cheerleaders, the scapegoat fat girl and the local goth chick to find way to get Jessica back into the right body.
The screwball humor story is put together in a surprising clever way. In fact, it ruthlessly spoofs the library of American teen flicks better than “Not Another Teen Movie,” taking jabs at “Bring It On” and every film that ends with the prom (like “She’s All That,” “American Pie” and “Pretty In Pink”).
The gags in “The Hot Chick” are surprisingly fresh. After oodles of gender-bender comedies over the years (going as far back as “Some Like It Hot,” through “Tootsie,” “Victor/Victoria,” “Switch” and up to last year’s “Sorority Boys”), you might think there are no new jokes. However, “The Hot Chick” brings a novel (albeit crass) perspective. For example, in one scene Jessica must learn to use the trough in the men’s bathroom for the first time. (Note to women: if you don’t understand this one, just ask a male friend about the trough.) The results are hysterical in their most banal, crudest form.
The cast is amazingly solid, rounding out the film nicely – from a role for Matthew Lawrence that would make the “Boy Meets World” crew cringe to the character of April’s father, expertly underplayed by Robert Davi. Even a cameo from Adam Sandler is funny at times, although it does rehash the not-so-funny “You Can Put Your Weed in There” sketch on SNL.
However, the real comedic standout is Anne Faris (with her naturally blonde do), whom we’ve seen in both “Scary Movie” and “Scary Movie 2.” Faris has impeccable comic timing and the reactionary acting talent of Ben Stiller. In fact, Faris is a Madeline Kahn in the making, sharing many of the late, great comedienne’s attributes. She’s beautiful. She’s funny. And she’s not afraid to give her all to a performance.
One final thing about this film that has to be mentioned, though, is some folks in the audience. The crowd I saw it with was a bit rowdy, and there were plenty of college kids hooting and hollering. But this was okay. After all, this is a Rob Schneider movie – not “Schindler’s List.” However, there was this guy sitting in the row in front of me who kept yelling rude comments to the screen (such as when McAdams crawls into bed wearing a nightshirt and skimpy panties, he yells, “Open your legs!”).
Now, like I said, it’s not that I was too bothered by rude comments. And I will admit that McAdams and Faris are very deserving of the film’s title. But the problem was that this guy yelling these comments was in his 40s. And he was alone.
Ick.
So, as you go see this movie, be leery of creepy guys in the 40s drooling over the girls in the film. “The Hot Chick” seems to have a similar draw as the early Britney Spears music videos.