My New Hero


With a wonderfully snide beatdown review of Boys and Girls, A.O. Scott enters the ranks of that proud contingent: movie reviewers who have been pushed over the line into gleeful misanthropy by the drivel they are forced to watch. Boys and Girls sounds like a harmless enough flick, one whose damage to society is unlikely to exceed the money wasted to make it. It stars Freddie Prinze Jr., whose very name is a punch line unto itself these days, an actor whose limited talents and laughable inability to choose good projects have not apparently hurt his employability. Here's Scott's take on the film:

I saw "Boys and Girls" at a sneak preview packed with eager members of its target audience. After about 30 minutes, many of them seemed to wish they'd stayed home to study. "I never thought I could feel ripped off by a movie I saw for free," one young man remarked on his way out. He was the voice of his generation, or at least of the mob of his peers who had, during Ryan's big emotional speech about love, trust and fidelity, howled with derisive laughter at Mr. Prinze's furrowing brow and downturned mouth. They may have been disappointed, but I, at least, was able to leave the theater with new-found respect for America's often maligned and misunderstood youth.