‘He’s All That’: Why does Jameela Jamil hate Addison Rae’s new film?

The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil doesn’t seem to be too enthralled with Netflix’s upcoming Addison Rae vehicle, He’s All That, a reimagining of 1999’s She’s All That, a film that was a launching pad for many of the film’s young actors, including Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, Anna Paquin, Gabrielle Union, Rachael Leigh Cook, and the late Paul Walker.

“This looks objectively F^%$*@# terrible,” Jamil stated.  “Which means *everyone* is going to watch it and it’s going to be number 1.” He’s All That will of course see director Mark Waters at the helm, who’s perhaps best known for directing the 2004 cult classic Mean Girls. He’s All That is set to star Cobra Kai’s Tanner Buchanan, TikTok icon Addison Rae, as well as Peyton Meyer, Madison Pettis, and Kourtney Kardashian. 

Could Jameela Jamil be right? After all, She’s All That fell into the category of hit comedies of that 1990s era which included the likes of American Pie, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Bring It On. Is it even possible for Netflix’s He’s All That to recapture the magic? Our suggestion is this; go into the film as a pessimist . . . that way you’re likely to be more surprised by the film than actually let down. 

She’s All That

The original She’s All That came out in January 1999, and was directed by Robert Iscove, known for his work on both this film and 2000’s Boys And Girls. Iscove was also given the Hollywood curse for work on 2002’s From Justin to Kelly, starring American Idol season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini.   

The film told the story of high school stud Zach (Prinze Jr.), the envy of his friends. But his popularity declines quickly when his prized girlfriend, Taylor , leaves him for sleazy reality-television star Brock Hudson. Desperate to revive his fading reputation, Zach agrees to an impossible bet, receiving six weeks to gain the trust of nerdy outcast Laney (Leigh Cook) and help her to become the school’s next prom queen.

The film was famously spoofed in the 2001 comedy Not Another Teen Movie, which made fun of popular teen films such as The Breakfast Club, Varsity Blues, Pretty in Pink, as well as many other popular teen films of that era. This film starred Chris Evans, Chyler Leigh, Jaime Pressly, Lacey Chabert, and Eric Christian Olsen. It would appear as if we’ve seen enough incarnations of She’s All That, right? Wrong . . . 

He’s All That

The upcoming He’s All That, set to release this August, seems to capture the teenage spirit that made those late 1990s teen movies so much fun; pool parties, hookups, drama, and amazing soundtracks. But can this upcoming remake succeed?  

Well, the first major red flag is that the film stars, well, a TikTok star instead of an actual actress. While we won’t be so quick to judge Addison Rae, given her credibility as well as her charisma, we would’ve liked to see a trained actress tackle this role, and there’s a chance that her performance could come off as bland. Oh, right, speaking of bland . . . Kourtney Kardashian? They really had to cast the one vanilla Kardashian? Sigh.  

We have no idea how this movie will be received by audiences. However, while we have our own reservations we’ll still give it a shot nonetheless, especially after learning that Rachael Leigh Cook will have a cameo appearance in the film. Who knows? Maybe it will spawn a crowd funding for a Josie and the Pussycats reunion?  

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All we can do is be hopeful, even if Netflix has a very low percentage of quality Netflix original films. We will add, however, that if they’re able to incorporate “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer then we’ll automatically bump the film’s score by five points . . . we won’t reveal out of how many, though.