Get Over It

Be prepared – indeed, be afraid – for Get Over It heralds the imminent resurrection of the rock musical (forthcoming summer attractions in a similar vein include A Knight’s Tale and Moulin Rouge).

Taking Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream as its starting point, this impossibly camp extravaganza features pop stars (Vitamin C, Sisqo), glamour models (Carmen Electra, Kylie Bax) and the inimitable (thank fuck!) Martin Short. It is by far the campiest spectacle brought to life since director O’Haver’s previous classic Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss – and though hardly required viewing, it certainly raises what would otherwise be a pedestrian high-school rom-com to a more cultish and novel level.

Berke Landers (Foster), after many years of perseverance, has finally landed his long-time love Allison (Sagemiller) just in time for his senior high-school year. However, after a sixteen-month stint together Alison starts feeling the urge to, uh, like, see other people, so Berke finds himself unceremoniously dumped. Worse yet, nauseating boy-band vocalist Striker (West) – a slimy limey with one of those stage-English accents that veers wildly from Lord Snooty to the Monkees’ Davy Jones – starts dating Allison, prompting acts of lovelorn desperation from poor Berke.

Determined to put a stop to Berke’s impromptu midnight serenades and other embarrassing attempts to win back his girl, his best mates Felix (Hanks - son of Tom!) and Dennis (Sisqo) intervene with all manner of potential girlfriends, including dominatrix Mistress Moira (Electra) and an accident-prone swimwear model (Bax).

Alas, nothing can mend his broken heart, so he enlists the help of Felix’s sister Kelly (Dunst) to land a role in a musical production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which Allison and Striker have already signed up for. Of course, Kelly nurtures a burning desire for Berke, thereby adding to the romantic complications at hand.

Taken as a straightforward teen comedy, there is little to distinguish Get Over It from the rest of this increasingly spent genre (Bring It On, She’s All That and other ambitiously-titled epics). For sure, it is not exactly the most distinguished work of all time in terms of dialogue and characterisation.

However, instead of merely pilfering from literature for plot-points – as was the case with She’s All That and Ten Things I Hate About You – Get Over It uses its Shakespearean inspiration as a departure point into (very) kitsch musical numbers and woodland fantasy sequences. As a result, it’s pacey, trashy, nothing if not innovative, and frequently a lot of fun.

No classic, but Get Over It really is likeably frivolous fare nonetheless. [