She's the Man

Infobox_Film
name = She's the Man


caption = Movie poster for " She's the Man"
writer = William Shakespeare (play)
Ewan Leslie (story by and screenplay)
Karen McCullah Lutz
Kirsten Smith
starring = Amanda Bynes
James Kirk
Julie Hagerty
Channing Tatum
Laura Ramsey
Robert Hoffman
Alex Breckenridge
Emily Perkins
Amanda Crew
Jonathan Sadowski
James Snyder
Clifton Murray
David Cross
Vinnie Jones
Brandon Jay McLaren
director = Andy Fickman
producer = Lauren Shuler Donner
Ewan Leslie
distributor = USA
DreamWorks
Outside USA
Lakeshore Entertainment
released = March 17 2006 (U.S.),
(Canada)
April 6 2006 (Australia)
April 7 2006 (UK)
music =
runtime = 105 minutes
language = English
budget = $20,000,000
website = http://www.shestheman-themovie.com
imdb_id = 0454945

"She's the Man" is a 2006 comedy romance film, starring Amanda Bynes and directed by Andy Fickman, based on William Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night, or What You Will", though it also shares substantial similarities to "Just One of the Guys" and deals with high school politics as well. The film also stars Channing Tatum and co-stars David Cross. It was released on 17 March 2006 in the United States and Canada; 6 April 2006 in Australia; and 7 April 2006 in the United Kingdom.

Ensemble cast

The film was noted for its use of an ensemble cast; many of the stars of the film were already quite successful outside of the movie, unusual for a relatively low budget teen movie. Although "She's the Man" was a success at the box office, it has been much more successful through DVD sales and as the stars of the film become more famous, Amanda Bynes being in "Hairspray" and Channing Tatum who played the lead role in the dance themed movie Step Up, who will also be in the new action film "GI Joe" with co-star Sienna Miller.

Cast:
Amanda Bynes: Viola Hastings,

Amanda Crew: Kia,

Jonathan Sadowski: Paul,

Jessica Lucas: Yvonne,

Robert Hoffman: Ex-boyfriend Justin,

Channing Tatum: Duke Orsino,

Laura Ramsey: Olivia,

Vinnie Jones: Coach Dinklage.

*James Kirk: Sebastian

* Originally Jesse McCartney auditioned and got the role for Sebastian (he has similar face features to Amanda Bynes) but had to pull out due to busy schedule.

Plot

Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) is a high school soccer player who learns that the girls' team at her school, Cornwall, is being cut. After her request to join the boys' team is refused, she finds a way to play for Cornwall's rival Illyria.

Viola's twin brother Sebastian, whom she resembles physically, is supposed to enter Illyria as a new student. However, he plans to visit London secretly to enter a contest with his rock band. Sebastian asks Viola to cover for him by telling the school that he is sick and each of their parents (who are divorced) that he is staying with the other.

Viola instead decides to pass herself off as Sebastian and join the boys' soccer team at Illyria. She hopes to beat the Cornwall team and humiliate her sexist goalie ex-boyfriend Justin (Robert Hoffman). With the help of her friends Paul (Jonathan Sadowski), Kia (Amanda Crew), and Yvonne (Jessica Lucas), Viola becomes "Sebastian".

At Illyria, Viola's roommate is Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum), a good-looking striker on the soccer team. Kia and Yvonne agree to help Viola make her alter ego seem popular by pretending to be in love with "Sebastian". Viola also publicly breaks up with the real Sebastian's girlfriend, Monique. Duke and his friends are impressed, but Viola's soccer skills are still not good enough to make first string. It looks like Viola may not be able to play in the game against Cornwall after all.

After spending so much time with him, Viola realizes that she has fallen in love with Duke. However, Duke is only interested in Viola's lab partner, Olivia (Laura Ramsey). In exchange for Viola's help in getting Olivia's attention, Duke agrees to put in extra soccer practice time with her. The practice pays off when Coach Dinklage (Vinnie Jones) promotes Viola to first string.

By this time, Olivia has developed a crush on "Sebastian". Since "Sebastian" isn't interested in her, Olivia decides to go out with Duke to make him jealous. Meanwhile, Monique and her Malcolm (who has a crush on Olivia and is jealous of Viola as Sebastian) find out Viola's secret identity.

The plot is complicated when the real Sebastian returns from London early. When he arrives at Illyria, Olivia runs up and kisses him. Duke sees this and thinks his roommate has betrayed him. He kicks Viola out of their room.

On the day of the big game, Monique and Malcolm reveal the truth about Viola to Principal Gold. But because Viola has overslept, the real Sebastian winds up on the field playing in what should be his sister's spot. Principal Gold stops the game but Sebastian proves that he really is a boy yanking off his shorts and exposing his penis. At half time, Viola explains the situation to Sebastian and they switch places again.

Duke is still angry with "Sebastian" and refuses to pass the ball to Viola. She tries to explain that she really is a girl, finally convincing Duke and everyone else by showing them her breasts. The coach agrees to let Viola keep playing anyway. Illyria wins the game on a penalty kick when Viola scores a goal by tricking her ex-boyfriend Justin.

Everyone at Illyria rejoices after the victory, except for Duke who is hurt at Viola's deception. She invites Duke to her debutante ball, where they reconcile and kiss. As the movie ends, Viola is seen playing on Illyria's soccer team.

Box office performance

She's the Man grossed a total of $33,741,133 domestic with a total gross of $57,194,667 worldwide. [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=shestheman.htm]

References to "Twelfth Night"

Like "10 Things I Hate About You," "She's the Man" is loosely based on a Shakespearean comedy. The plots of "She's the Man" and "Twelfth Night" run along similar lines, such as Olivia kissing Sebastian rather than the disguised Viola, or Duke enlisting "Sebastian" (the disguised Viola) to help him gain Olivia's attention (in the play, the Duke Orsino enlisted "Cesario" to help him win Olivia). The main characters share the names of the characters in "Twelfth Night", and are in a similar love triangle. Duke Orsino, based upon the Duke of Orsino, is in love with Olivia, who is in love with a disguised Viola (who has a twin named Sebastian), who in turn is in love with Duke.

The film's connections to the play are emphasized through a number of visual and dialogue references:
*In the trailer, when Viola walks through the school's campus outside, a billboard can be seen on the left hand side advertising the school's production of "What You Will."
*The pizza parlor where the kids hang out is called Cesario's.
*Duke Orsino says, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them," a quote from the letter read by Malvolio in "Twelfth Night".
*Various names in the film are taken from "Twelfth Night", although the roles in the film bear little or no similarity to their namesakes. These character names are: Malvolio (the name of Malcolm's tarantula), Feste (Malcolm's last name), Valentine (Monique's last name), Andrew and Toby (Duke's soccer buddies), Maria (Olivia's friend) and Antonio (Paul's last name; Paul is gay, and it is speculated that Antonio has a sexual interest in Sebastian in the play).
*Stratford Country Club is a reference to Stratford-upon-Avon.
*"Illyria," the name of the school, is also the name of the country in which "Twelfth Night" is set.
*Sebastian is returning from London on the twelfth.

External links

* [http://www.shestheman-themovie.com Official site]
*imdb title|id=0454945|title=She's the Man
* [http://www.soundtrackinfo.com/ost.asp?soundtrack=5487 She's the Man soundtrack] questions, answers and other music information.
* [http://madeinatlantis.com/channing_tatum/interview2.htm Channing Tatum Talks She's The Man]