Review: Even Betty White Can't Save You Again

This laugh-free comedy starring Kristen Bell about getting payback on high school bullies falls flat at every turn

Review in a Hurry: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and Betty White are trapped in this laugh-free comedy about getting payback on high school bullies everywhere. Sadly, not even Betty White can save this trainwreck.

The Bigger Picture: Fellow castmembers can now check "starred in a movie with Betty White" off their bucket lists. But for audiences, You Again is that mediocre subgenre of screwball comedy meets heartfelt drama.

Marni (Bell) still cringes thinking of high school. How can she forget the catcalls of "loser" interspersed to the tune of Queen's "We Are the Champions?" Leading the vocals of the MTV-like montage of humiliation was head cheerleader Joanna (Odette Yustman). Now a successful L.A. publicist, Marni's back home to attend the wedding of her too-nice brother Will (Jimmy Wolk) to the woman that made her teenage life a living hell. Will Joanna remember her? Better still, will Marni get finally get a heartfelt apology?

Truthfully, the premise isn't terrible, but the execution is. You Again lives up to its title by being deadly dull, recognizable and predictable. It's 90 minutes of déjà-vu of other boring movies. Which isn't to say the actresses aren't trying. Kristen Bell is adorable as a smart, independent young woman with emotional scars. Plus, Curtis and Weaver are well-matched as successful women who were best friends in high school until "their incident." That's right, the personal Waterloo's run parallel in generations.

But seeing Bell spar against Yustman is a letdown since they only seem to discuss one issue (high school hell) over and over. Instead of witty banter, things get ugly. Why is the script consistently putting Bell's character into pratfalls where she's dipped, scraped and trashed in every manner possible? It's not funny when she bails on a pile of ants, and it's not funnier when she's drenched in soup. As for Yustman, yes, she's drop-dead gorgeous, but a better screenplay might have gone in a direction that doesn't involve just making her look hot in every scene.

At the very least, this is not Kristen Bell's worst film of 2010. That dubious honor still goes to When in Rome. So there's that, right?

The 180—a Second Opinion: Like we said, these actresses do have great chemistry together, but save yourself the admission price and check out this Funny or Die clip Bell and Co. did.