Boy--Berke Landers (Ben Foster)--falls in love with girl--Allison McAllister (Melissa Sagemiller)--boy and girl date and, finally, girl dumps boy, breaking his heart into a billion little pieces. When Berke loses the love of his life and she appears to be moving on quicker than he had ever hoped, he is determined to win her back and right the ship that is his teenage life. When he joins the school play in an attempt to get Allison back, his friend’s sister, Kelly Woods (Kirsten Dunst), helps him learn what life as a thespian is like. Unexpectedly, Kelly turns out to be something Berke never expected, something far more intriguing. Berke is told, over and over again, to Get Over It, in regard to his relationship with Allison, and Kelly just might be what he needs to get him over the hump.
Like nearly every other teen drama in the early 2000’s, Get Over It follows a cookie cutter script that sees the young, heartbroken teen find love in an unsuspecting place. Cheesy is the first word that comes to mind when attempting to summarize the feel of Tommy O’Haver’s Get Over It. From the opening moments, with the oddities that surround Berke and his less than elegant story of love and loss, viewers become engulfed in a world of exaggeration, lust and absurdities. Audiences, whether they like it or not, are immediately stuck in the film for the long run as they immediately feel sunken and lost. As butterflies, fairies, graphics that mirror 1960’s Batman, and characters that are nearly impossible to appreciate, flood the screen, audiences are taken to a place that feels impossible to escape. O’Haver never relents and viewers are inundated with these visuals from beginning to end. While these visuals pose a threat to the film’s success, there is, however, a sense of novelty that graces the screen as well, and provides viewers a sense of calmness saving them from the often obnoxious and tiring nature of some of the characters.
Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates (Martin Short), erratic nincompoop, narcissistic asshole and conductor of the school play manages to take this film from bad to worse. Short’s Oates is stressful through every single line he speaks and every one of his cumbersome movements. He is frustrating to watch and his abrasive nature takes Get Over It to a new level of frustrating. Alongside Short is the equally annoying Shane West (Bentley ‘Striker’ Scrumfield). West is a frustrating actor to begin with, as there is just something about his face that infuriates me and makes it nearly impossible for me to appreciate anything he does on screen. To further the frustration of West, his character, Striker, is one of the biggest miscreants I’ve ever seen in a film. Now, to be fair, the ability of O’Haver, writer R. Lee Fleming Jr. and the actors to capture these aspects of both Oates and Striker does say something about their talents. The purpose of these characters is obviously to create a juxtaposition of personality between the two of them and the leads, Dunst and Foster. They do create a smooth and obvious separation between the characters, delivering on their vision of clear foils in this teen drama.
The most surprising successful aspect of the film is Dunst. She appears to find her niche here, but even more so, she expresses to the world what a vocal talent she is. Her musical numbers are moving and help to add some semblance of depth to Get Over It.
The story feels too redundant of nearly every teen drama that has come before. Get Over It pulls too much from films such as 10 Things I Hate About You, Can’t Hardly Wait and Drive Me Crazy. Many of the aspects of Get Over It too closely resemble films of this nature and become a turn off to viewers who are familiar with these other, more successful teenage dramas of the 1990’s. While I don’t think O’Haver or Fleming Jr. were too off target with their idea, they do, in fact, miss the target, leaving audiences feeling a bit disappointed in the end result. With everything that the writer and director borrowed from its predecessors, Get
Over It ultimately feels a bit watered down and uninspiring. There are far too many original ideas present throughout this genre to feel like this is a necessary watch. It has glimpses of hope sprinkled throughout the story, but ultimately feels uneventful, even through the slew of messy plotlines, oppressive characters and lustless story.
Directed by Tommy O’Haver. Written by R. Lee Fleming Jr. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Ben Foster, Melissa Sagemiller, Shane West, Sisqó, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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