Bad U.S. Movies on Argentine Cable #4

although i have finished with my posts regarding argentina, i have decided to send one more love letter (a pink one of course) to bad u.s. movies on argentine cable. i still recall many worthy candidates that have been untouched and uncovered but feel most strongly about giving this certain film its due.

the year was 1999. teen-aimed mismatch romantic comedies were all the rage after the success of "she's all that." britney spears was dominating the radio waves and i was changing the channel to listen to something, anything else. melissa joan-hart was popular among tweens after knowing it all and turning into a teen-aged witch. adrien grenier was....ummm.....nobody really cared about him until he was in entourage. this was five years before that so it just means we know his schedule was open. what happens when all these disparate elements are in place? "drive me crazy" happens.

with the directorial talents of the man who previously helmed "the making of 'jurassic park'" and would go on to lead "like mike," "drive me crazy" starts with a pedigree of mediocrity. however, the talent behind the camera isn't all bad. rob thomas, who would later write acclaimed teen-aged private eye show "veronica mars," co-wrote here. perhaps that is why this movie had a single moment of being not entirely horrible from start to finish.

don't be mistaken though. this movie is otherwise entirely horrible from start to finish. melissa joan-hart portrays a popular suzie spirit at her high school, involved with all sorts of activities and clubs while hanging out with the cool, attractive set (in spite of neither being cool nor attractive herself). drama ensues when her boyfriend dumps her months before the big dance and she is left scrambling to find a replacement hunk to make him jealous, ultimately hoping he'll apologize so they can go together. but who could that replacement be?

adrien grenier is her former childhood friend and neighbor who has since taken to being rebellious at school by pulling pranks and making out with his skanky girlfriend in janitor closets. when things turn sour with the skanky chick, he agrees to be a part of the plot to turn him into a dreamboat. basically that means wearing sweaters and turtlenecks instead of t-shirts. and talking about sports with other popular guys.

instead of giving away everything else, i will let the trailer do that. how fitting: a poor quality trailer for a poor quality movie. also, note the crappy britney spears song that changed the title of the film when the producers got the rights to it.

high point: the one aforementioned reason why this was not absolutely horrible. there was a subplot about one of the nerdy computer guys getting a date for the dance through the internet. turns out it is the sweet popular pretty girl who used to be fat. they end up having a pleasant time and that was that.

low point: melissa joan-hart's lazy eye. Monica brought this to Elizabeth's and my attention early in the film. neither of us realized it before, neither of us could ignore it after. goodness! it was like watching an iguana look at two different places at the same time.

"yeah, right" moment: the random subplot that only becomes apparent at the end of the film that the single mom of adrien grenier and the single father of melissa joan-hart have secretly been hooking it up. on prom night, both sets of couples are ok with the other heading in opposite, private directions together.