Can't Buy Me Love might have been an early example of this story structure, but this is certainly something that became quite popular in romantic comedies over time. The idea of a makeover to get one person to fit into another crowd is well-trod territory, but I was surprised that in this version it's the outcast kid who leverages something in order to convince the popular kid to help him out. However, this choice in the script makes the protagonist extremely tough to like. He's mean-spirited at the start as he basically bribes/blackmails to get what he wants, and then just gets worse as he gains popularity and mistreats others to fit in with the hip crowd. I've seen somewhat similar tropes, but here it got so bad that I struggled to care about the guy winning the girl in the end.
I did like Amanda Peterson and Patrick Dempsey in the lead roles, and they had some decent chemistry. I only wish the script gave them more time to develop a convincing romance. It felt like they were thrown together for script convenience, but didn't have enough real moments of quality time that I could believe anyone fell in love. All that negative being said, there's just something about this type of rom-com that I enjoy. I'm sure it relates to the nerd getting the girl, since I was a nerd myself. It has moments that make me smile, and I appreciate that they show how awful some of the childish behavior of teenagers can be, particularly when engaged in strictly because the popular kids are doing it. As you can tell it's not one of my favorites, but it's one I wouldn't refuse to watch again if asked.
I did like Amanda Peterson and Patrick Dempsey in the lead roles, and they had some decent chemistry. I only wish the script gave them more time to develop a convincing romance. It felt like they were thrown together for script convenience, but didn't have enough real moments of quality time that I could believe anyone fell in love. All that negative being said, there's just something about this type of rom-com that I enjoy. I'm sure it relates to the nerd getting the girl, since I was a nerd myself. It has moments that make me smile, and I appreciate that they show how awful some of the childish behavior of teenagers can be, particularly when engaged in strictly because the popular kids are doing it. As you can tell it's not one of my favorites, but it's one I wouldn't refuse to watch again if asked.