So recently I’ve found myself upping my usual intake of what I like to call “fluffy” movies, or rather, any movie with bad acting, a weak plot, cheesy music, and bad scripting (see Revenge of the Bridesmaids, Heartbreakers, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, etc). Now don’t ask me why, but for some reason these movies always seem to put me in a better mood. Maybe it’s the vapid dialogue, the gender stereotypes, the shallow romance plots, or maybe just the fact that the studios obviously knew that these films were definitely not going to be up for Oscars (something un-pretentious about it). I don’t know. But one of these fluffy movies flew into my Netflix recommendations a few days ago and I saw myself utterly delighted with it.

Maybe you don’t recall seeing the previews for the movie You Again starring Kristen Bell and newcomer Odette Annable. In case you don’t recall the previews, the plot is basically a cross between 27 Dresses and Never Been Kissed. Marni (Bell) was a loser in high school who is now a big successful communications agent person. About 20 minutes into the movie she finds out that her high school tormentor JJ (Annable) is about to marry her brother, with whom she’s very close (and who is inexplicably and unbelievably happy for the entire movie). To add to the drama between Marni and Joanna (JJ), there is added tension introduced between Marni’s mother, Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her high school best friend, Ramona (Sigourney Weaver).

Predictably all hell breaks loose.

But there is a heart to this movie that makes it cute, and maybe it’s in the performances of the actors. As always, it’s nice to see actors enjoying what they do without taking it too seriously, but in this film I feel like everyone was so relaxed that a bit of their true personalities seems to shine through. I say this with emphasis for Weaver and Curtis, who are absolutely hilarious as the two best friends turned “frennemies”. Another great performance was by Bell, who is believable as the tormented teenager and also as the desperate sister.

All this being said, I wouldn’t watch this movie expecting to nominate it for the next award or anything. The acting by lesser characters such as Marni’s brother and even the evil Joanna are a bit vom-tacular. Every scene in which they are in love with each other makes you immediately sympathetic to Marni. But even if you don’t watch it for the plot, watch it for the raucous cameos by Kristin Chenowith as the wedding planner and Betty White as the grandmother (look for the faceoff between her and Cloris Leachman!).

all in all, 3 outa 5.