REVIEW: ‘He’s All That’ teen rom-com movie with TikTok star is a fairly harmless Netflix remake
Aug 27, 2021, 5:45 AM | Updated: Feb 13, 2023, 2:47 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — If the title of the new Netflix movie “He’s All That” sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. The movie is a by-the-numbers remake of the popular 1999 film “She’s All That,” straight down to the return of two of the main actors, and the same writer, R. Lee Fleming, Jr., from the first film.
Addison Rae & Tanner Buchanan star in HE’S ALL THAT, coming to Netflix on Aug. 27, 2021.
TikTok star Addison Rae makes her feature film debut as Padgett Sawyer, a teenage social media influencer who has it all: Over 1 million followers for her streaming videos, a pop star boyfriend (Peyton Meyer) and sponsorship deals that give her free swag plus income to supplement her working single mother (“She’s All That” original star Rachel Leigh Cook).
But a humiliating on-camera breakup goes viral, and so she makes a risky bet to save her reputation: She swears she can turn scruffy antisocial Cameron (Tanner Buchanan of “Cobra Kai“) into prom king material.
To be honest, the story actually kind of fits in this current era perfectly. People are literally able to measure their popularity by the number of online followers and likes.
So the idea is not far-fetched that Padgett could watch her popularity plummet because of a bad viral moment, or similarly, that turning Cameron into Prom King on her video channel could get her back in the online spotlight.
There’s probably some kind of social commentary about our society buried in there somewhere.
I think director Mark Waters (“Mean Girls,” “Freaky Friday”) does the best he can with what he’s got here.
There were a couple of fun cameos from the original movie, and even a Kardashian appearance (Kourtney) as Padgett’s sponsor, the owner of a fashion brand.
But the biggest struggle for me was watching Addison Rae. She got her fame on TikTok (82 million followers) from dancing videos, and she does get to bust out some dance moves. But, while she is certainly attractive and she gives it her all, ultimately she’s just not a skilled actor at this point and it’s obvious as you watch.
“He’s All That” is rated TV-14, mostly for language. The run time, including credits, is only an hour and 31 minutes.
The movie is streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Interested in this movie? Watch the video at the top of the page for my full, in-depth review & final rating.
Hopefully you & your family found this review helpful! Andy Farnsworth is the movie and pop culture guy for the KSL 5 Today morning news show and also hosts the Fan Effect podcast for KSL NewsRadio. Check out some of his other in-depth reviews of movies and streaming TV series on KSLTV.com.
