You Again
Director: Andy Fickman
Writer: Moe Jelline
Cast: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Annable, Victor Garber, Betty White, James Wolk, Kristin Chenoweth, Sean Wing, Kyle Bornheimer, William Brent, Christine Lakin, Meagan Holder, Patrick Duffy
Seen on: 10.6.2019
Plot:
Marni (Kristen Bell) was not particularly popular in high school, and that’s putting it mildly. Her main tormentor was Joanna (Odette Annable). Marni thought that she left all of this behind her – until she finds out that her brother (James Wolk) just got engaged to Joanna. The Joanna now seems all kindness and charity, but Marni doesn’t believe this new Joanna one bit and is dead-set on exposing who she really is. Things get even more heated when Joanna’s aunt Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) shows up – and turns out to be the former best friend turned enemy of Marni’s mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis).
You Again was okay to watch, but – despite the really awesome cast – nothing more than that.
You again felt very much like a film made by men about women with a very male gaze on female conflict (that sounds all very essentialistic, but I do mean it in a “in a heteronormative, patriarchal context” way). I would have liked to see the script as written by a woman. While no guarantee, I think it would have had a bigger chance of getting some more complexity into the storyline.
Because there are interesting points here – the way conflicts basically transcends generations, for example. But it’s all done so incredibly reductively and basically all (non-related) women relate to each other in the same way, and that is competitively, constantly contrasting and comparing and making sure to be the best. It is very tiring, and from my experience as a woman with a lot of female friends, it isn’t even close to the truth.
The film does have funny moments, and Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver alone (almost?) make the film worth watching. But overall it was trite and a little stale. It doesn’t find its footing and doesn’t really know what to do with its characters, leaving a bland impression at best.
Summarizing: meh.
