Never Been Kissed

For the Sherrié Austin song, see Love in the Real World. For the Kristine W song, see Stronger (Kristine W album). For the Nikki Webster song, see Bliss (Nikki Webster album). For the Glee episode, see Never Been Kissed (Glee).

Never Been Kissed
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Raja Gosnell
Produced by	Sandy Isaac Nancy Juvonen
Written by	Marc Silverstein Abby Kohn
Starring	Drew Barrymore David Arquette Molly Shannon Marley Shelton Michael Vartan John C. Reilly
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography	Alex Nepomniaschy
Editing by	Debra Chiate Marcel Sansevieri
Studio	Flower Films
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	April 9, 1999
Running time	107 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million[1]
Box office	$84,565,230[1]

Never Been Kissed is a 1999 comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, John C. Reilly, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, James Franco (in his film debut), Giuseppe Andrews, Jeremy Jordan and Garry Marshall. Never Been Kissed was produced by 20th Century Fox and Drew Barrymore's production company, Flower Films.

Plot

Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) is a highly intelligent, but socially inept, copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times who has never had a real relationship. One day during a staff meeting, the tyrannical editor-in-chief, Rigfort (Garry Marshall) assigns her to report undercover at a high school to help parents become more aware of their children's lives.

Josie tells her brother Rob (David Arquette) about the assignment, and he reminds her that during high school she was a misfit labelled "Josie Grossie", a nickname which continues to haunt her.

Her first day at South Glen South High School is miserable. Josie reverts back to the old geek that ruined her first high school career. She is late to class and is forced to wear a sombrero as punishment by her eccentric, menopausal teacher. She also has an unfortunate run-in with Gibby, Kirsten, and Kristen (Jordan Ladd, Jessica Alba, and Marley Shelton), three mean, popular girls, and Guy Perkins (Jeremy Jordan), the most attractive, popular student at South Glen South. Upon discovering that Guy and his friends have hidden her car, Josie loses hope, but is warmed when a kind-hearted, intelligent girl named Aldys (Leelee Sobieski) befriends her. Aldys dislikes Guy and his gang, referring to them as "lemmings", and they in turn view her as an uncool geek. Aldys suggests that Josie should join The Denominators, a group of intelligent students. Josie does but fails to get her story.

Josie becomes enamoured with her English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan), who is a fan of Shakespeare, as is Josie, and she becomes the top student in his class. After reciting a romantic excerpt from Shakespeare to Sam, Josie has horrible flashbacks to where she read a romantic poem aloud in class to her high school crush, a popular boy named Billy Prince (Denny Kirkwood), who made fun of her for it. Later on in the library, her friend, Sheila (Marissa Jaret Winokur), delivers the news that Billy Prince wants to take Josie to the senior prom, making her dream come true. That night, however, Billy humiliated her by bringing another girl to the prom.

One night while out driving with Aldys, Josie encounters Guy Perkins and his gang at a local hangout called "The Court" where promiscuity and underage drinking takes place. Guy is nasty to Josie and Aldys, who claims that nothing exciting happens in Guy's court, but Josie knows from experience that Aldys secretly longs to be popular. Gus loses patience with Josie after a rival paper exposes the truth on The Court, and orders Josie to become friends with the popular kids. He arranges for her to wear a hidden camera that will report back information to Gus, and soon the whole office becomes obsessed with Josie's story. Josie's co-worker Anita (Molly Shannon), after hearing Josie's recital of Shakespeare, grows unhappy with her promiscuous lifestyle and develops an attraction towards Gus, and he reciprocates.

Josie goes home and confides in Rob about her fears. She tearfully tells him that South Glen South is simply a repetition of her old high school days and all she wants is to be accepted and not abused. Rob - who was the most popular guy in school in his youth - insists that if Josie can get one cool person to like her, then no one will dare question her. He urges her to let go of her old self and start anew. Determined, Josie goes to school the next day and overhears Guy telling his group about a cool band that are playing in a bar that night. Josie follows and meets Sam and his uptight girlfriend, Lara (Maya McLaughlin). However, she is tricked into eating a hash brownie and makes a fool of herself onstage by dancing wildly in front of Guy, the girls, and Sam.

The next day, Josie oversleeps and is late for school. As her hand was stamped "loser" the night before at the club, the ink prints the word "loser" on her forehead, unknown to her. She merrily goes to school and is horrified to find everyone mocking her. She runs to the bathroom, sees the mark on her face and vomits in the toilet. She breaks down in tears and remembers the night of her prom. She was overjoyed at the thought of Billy Prince taking her to the prom and waits outside for him in her prom gown. But when Billy arrives in his limo, he has another girl with him and the both of them hurl eggs and insults at Josie, who collapses in tears. As she runs through the school hall, she encounters Rob who has enrolled as a new student and schemes to help her be popular. He becomes an instant hit with Guy Perkins and the other trendy kids, and spreads incredible stories about Josie, convincing the others that she is not a loser. Much to the anger of Aldys, Josie becomes popular and hangs out with the cool crowd.

Sam and Josie grow closer but Sam struggles with his feelings as he thinks that she is a student and therefore off limits. Josie begins dating Guy and she recommends that the theme for the senior prom should be "Meant for Each Other", famous couples throughout history. This idea is met with approval and Guy and Josie attend the prom as Rosalind and Orlando from Shakespeare's As You Like It. Anita, Gus and Josie's various other co-workers watch through the camera and are overjoyed as she is voted prom queen. As Guy dances with Aldys, as an alleged act of friendship, Josie dances with Sam and watches, horrified, as Gibby, Kirsten and Kristen nearly pour dog food over Aldys as revenge for her insulting them. Josie knocks the can away from Aldys and spills dog food over the three girls, who turn on her and denounce her as a loser. Infuriated, Josie throws her crown away and reveals her true age and occupation, and that she is disgusted by them. She angrily states how shallow the popular girls are, and praises Aldys for her kindness. Josie warns the students that who one was in high school means nothing outside in the real world and urges them to be themselves. She flees and leaves the students appalled. Sam is hurt by her lies and states he wants nothing to do with her. Also angry is Rob, who as a phony student received a second chance to play baseball and be scouted for the pros. He tells Josie that he "taught those kids something" and that she totally ruined things for him and the team.

Josie vows to give Gus a story and write her story of her own high school career. She admits she has never been kissed, and also mentions the students of South Glen South, kindly remarking on Guy's confidence, Gibby, Kirsten and Kristen's beauty, and Aldys's intelligence, and her love for Sam. The entire city is moved by her story and the pain she suffered in her teens. She says she will stand in the middle of the baseball field and wait for Sam to come and kiss her, if he really loves her. She also makes amends with Rob by using her influence at the paper to secure Rob an assistant coaching job with the team, something he proves to be successful doing. Josie waits but Sam has not heard as he is moving to New York. She waits with encouragement from Anita, Aldys, Gus, Guy and the girls.

The clock runs out with no sign of Sam. A heartbroken Josie drops the microphone she's been holding to the ground. Fighting tears, she hears cheers rising from the bleachers seconds later as Sam rushes to the pitcher's mound. Sam apologizes for being late and kisses Josie for the very first time.

Cast

• Drew Barrymore as Josie Geller, a 25-year-old copy editor who works for the Chicago Sun-Times.
• Michael Vartan as Sam Coulson, a young, attractive English teacher at the high school in which Josie enrolls.
• David Arquette as Rob Geller, Josie's younger brother.
• John C. Reilly as Augustus "Gus" Strauss, Josie's superior
• Leelee Sobieski as Aldys, one of Josie's only friends at the high school when she starts. She is considered by most of the popular people a "Math Geek."
• Jeremy Jordan as Guy Perkins, the most popular guy in school.
• Jordan Ladd, Jessica Alba, and Marley Shelton as Gibby, Kirsten, and Kristen, the three most popular girls in the school.
• Molly Shannon as Anita, Josie's friend who works with her at the paper.

Other characters

• Denny Kirkwood as Billy Prince, Josie's crush in her first high school experience; he invited her to the prom, only to have brought another girl.
• Marissa Jaret Winokur as Sheila, Josie's best friend in her first high school experience.
• Maya McLaughlin as Lara, Sam's uptight girlfriend.
• Giuseppe Andrews as Denominator
• Branden Williams and James Edward Franco as Tommy and Jason, two of Guy's friends.
• Octavia Spencer as Cynthia
• Garry Marshall as Wigfort
• Sean Whalen as Merkin
• Martha Hackett as Mrs. Knox
• Jenny Bicks as Miss Haskell

Soundtrack

• During the scene where Josie and Aldys are talking to each other on the football field, the band plays the theme song from The Simpsons.
• American ska band Spring Heeled Jack U.S.A. submitted a song named "Josie" for the film's soundtrack. The band had previously released a single titled "Jolene" which was about their tour van, but when given the opportunity to submit a song for the soundtrack, they simply replaced the name Jolene with Josie to make it relevant to Barrymore's character in the film. It was later rejected.
• During a scene where Josie is remembering her bullying in high school, Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop" is played.
• The morning after Josie's experience with marijuana, "Me, Myself and I" by De La Soul is heard playing.
• When Josie is remembering her first senior prom, Madonna's song "Like a Prayer", from her album Like a Prayer, can be heard in the background.
• The single "Lucky Denver Mint" by Jimmy Eat World is featured in the film's soundtrack, and was the only single from their album Clarity to consequently gain airplay on popular American radio.
• A significant amount of the song "Heaven Tonight" by Hole appears in the film.
• The Latin funk band Ozomatli makes a cameo.
• During the climax, in the scene when Josie receives her first kiss from Sam on the baseball field, the song "Don't Worry Baby" by The Beach Boys is played.
• While Josie and Sam are dancing, the song "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" from the 1984 album "Hatful Of Hollow" by The Smiths can be heard in the background.
• The song "Erase/Rewind" by The Cardigans is played,in the background, towards the end of the movie, at the prom night when the prom king and queen dance.
• The song Watching the Wheels by John Lennon appears in the movie.
• Kottonmouth Kings' "Suburban Life" plays when Josie pulls up to the school and her car backfires

Filming locations

• South Glen High School was filmed at John Burroughs Middle School located in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles at 600 South McCadden Place^{[citation needed]}
• Josie’s childhood home is located at 368 North Ridgewood Place in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}
• Nana's coffee shop where Josie and Aldys have lunch is the Monrovia Coffee Company located at 425 South Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia, CA.^{[citation needed]}
• The Tiki Post where Rob worked is now a Cold Stone Creamery located at 408 South Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia, Ca.^{[citation needed]}
• The exterior scenes for the prom were filmed at 4526 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA. The interiors were filmed at the Ebell located at 743 South Lucerne Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA.^{[citation needed]}
• Josie's office and job scenes were filmed in Chicago and readers of the Chicago Sun-Times were shot on the Chicago Avenue stop on the CTA Brown Line.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Never Been Kissed". boxofficemojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=neverbeenkissed.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-13. 

External links

• Official website
• Never Been Kissed at the Internet Movie Database
• Never Been Kissed at AllRovi
• Never Been Kissed at Box Office Mojo
• Never Been Kissed at Rotten Tomatoes