DVD Review - Never Been Kissed

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Site created 12/15/97.

review added: 11/15/99

Never Been Kissed
1999 (1999) - 20th Century Fox

review by Todd Doogan, special to The Digital Bits

Film Rating: B+

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): B+/B+/D

Specs and Features

107 mins, PG-13, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), single-sided, single-layered, Amaray keep case packaging, theatrical trailer, film-themed menu screens, scene access (30 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1 & 2.0), subtitles: English and Spanish, Close Captioned

In Never Been Kissed, Drew Barrymore plays a young journalist in Chicago, who goes back to school to find out what's going on with America's youth for an article she's assigned. It's a Godsend for her, having had a hellish high school experience originally - she now has the opportunity to be super cool. Well, some things don't change, and Drew finds her self back with the freaks and geeks, but this time she understands the value. When her brother gets into the act, and goes back to school too (feeling somewhat responsible for Drew's lack of popularity back in the day), he "fixes everything" and makes her the most popular girl in school. But at what price? Will Drew throw away her new geeky friends for her newer popular ones? Does she have what it takes to write a serious expose on high school life? Will her teacher still have the hots for her after he finds out that she's closer to his age than he thought? All those questions and more will be answered here.

Never Been Kissed is a fun little film. Drew is adorable, and the acting from her supporting cast is all fine for what it is. John C. Riley and Molly Shannon turn in the best performances of the bunch, as her newspaper co-workers. The writing is just as fun as the characters, and in the end, everything comes together pretty nicely. I honestly don't have a problem with the film at all. It's just a piece of entertainment with a lighthearted message in the middle: "Be who you are."

This DVD is about as bare-bones as you can get. There's a theatrical trailer and nothing else. The picture quality is fine, for a non-anamorphic transfer (but confusingly... the menus ARE anamorphic). The color tones on the faces seem a little bit off, and the brightness was a bit low, but it's still a very watchable transfer, with no artifacting to be found. The sound is dual-format (2.0 and 5.1, both Dolby Digital). Neither jumps through any hoops, but both work quite well. And that's about it.

Never Been Kissed on disc is nothing to write home about, but if you liked the film, you can now own it on DVD.

Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com