As an updated twist on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” “She’s the Man” stars Nickelodeon television favorite Amanda Bynes as a girl who just wants to play soccer.

After the girl’s soccer program gets cut at her high school, Viola (Bynes) tries to convince the guy’s coach to allow the girls to try out for the team. The coach laughs in her face right alongside the team captain who also happens to be Viola’s boyfriend, make that ex-boyfriend. In a perfectly timed act of rebellion, Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian (James Kirk), informs Viola that he is heading to London with his band to play a few gigs rather than going to his new boarding school. Sebastian needs Viola to cover for him while he’s gone for two weeks. Meanwhile Viola’s mom wants nothing more than for Viola to be the girly-girl she’s always dreamed of parenting. Her request? For Viola to join the Junior League and be introduced into society as a proper lady, which of course is the last thing tomboy Viola wants. Viola sees her opportunity to prove that she can play with the boys and decides to impersonate her brother at his new school, Ilyria Prep.

After telling both parents she’s staying with the other and some help from her hairstylist friend, she’s off to boarding school. It turns out that being a tomboy and having a twin brother don’t necessarily teach you everything you need to know about acting like a guy. Viola fails to impress Sebastian’s new roommate and only makes second string on the soccer team. With the game against her old school, and old boyfriend, only two weeks away, Viola has to figure out a way to get the coach to see that she deserves to be on the field, as Sebastian of course. With some help from friends, Viola manages to become the most popular guy in school.

We all know the mishaps that happen when girls try to impersonate boys in order to prove a point. Viola falls for Sebastian’s roommate, Duke (Channing Tatum) who’s got a crush on the most popular girl in school, Olivia (Laura Ramsey). Olivia sees the sensitive side of Sebastian, who is really Viola, and falls for him/her. Plus Viola is still playing along with her mother’s Junior League ideals in order to keep her from questioning where Viola is all the time, meaning we get the guy to girl to guy transition from Bynes.

When Viola as Sebastian agrees to help Duke get Olivia’s attention in exchange for help with soccer, Viola finally gets approval from the coach to start in the game against her old high school. What she couldn’t foresee was her brother’s early return to the States. Comedy ensues.

This is a prime example of a classic teen girl comedy. It reminded me a lot of the teen comedies from the late 90’s, and I don’t mean this in a bad way. It’s one of the best teen comedies I’ve seen since “10 Things I Hate About You,” another Shakespeare reincarnation. Bynes is about the only teen female movie star who has managed to maintain a sense of innocence about her. While Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff spend more time in tabloids than in movies, Bynes has been busy working on her show “What I Like About You,” which airs on the WB. She’s been working as an actress and a comedian since she started on the Nickelodeon show “All That” at age 8, and still infuses much of the physical comedy into her performances that she did growing up on screen.

Her sense of humor and silly antics bring actresses like Lucille Ball to mind, and it’s refreshing to watch a film directed at teens that doesn’t have to revolve around drugs, alcohol or sex to be funny. Let’s get real here: there isn’t a whole lot that’s new or different about the story of this film. However, I would argue that watching Amanda Bynes and crew for an hour and a half in this updated Shakespearean number, is far more enjoyable than many of the things on television or in movies these days.

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