JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS is no SHE'S ALL THAT

Do you remember the incredible cinematic year that was 1999? That was the year we got FIGHT CLUB, THE MATRIX, AMERICAN BEAUTY, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, THE INSIDER, and the list goes on and on. It was the kind of year that still lives in legend, even if the Oscar for Best Picture went to the Ben Affleck-featuring SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. Were you reveling in these celluloid discoveries in 1999? Or were you more like the thirteen-year-old me, embroiled in a hormone-fueled scam to separate me from my $4.75 in a little game I call the SHE'S ALL THAT con?

When I was thirteen, all I wanted to do was go to the theatre and stare at Rachael Leigh Cook for two hours. On that level, I was sure SHE'S ALL THAT would deliver (although there was, of course, going to be the regrettable Freddie Prinze Jr. tradeoff). But I had steeled myself mentally for this, and I was willing to accept that devilish bargain. And all of this would have been fine, if I didn't have to take my brother. Instead, I had to pretend that I couldn't find anything else at the theatre, that SHE'S ALL THAT was our only option, and that, "Hey, at least we'll hear that awesome Sixpence None the Richer song."

When JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS came out, I didn't even have that convenient Sixpence None the Richer excuse (which, as I have sadly found out, IS reusable). So I never got to see Rachael Leigh Cook bring Riverdale's finest musical act (fuck you, Archies) to the screen.

But now I'm 24, and I can watch anything I want. So when I find a $4 used copy of JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS in a garage sale, I buy it. And I am mildly amused by Alan Cumming and Parker Posey going all-out over-the-top insane. I am mildly surprised by the film's anti-corporate message (such as there is). And I fall in love all over again with Rachael Leigh Cook, who fixes a truck (Megan Fox-styles, without the whoreishness), plays a mean guitar (sorta, as long as I don't look at her fingers), and does the whole girl-power thing proud (if we can still call it that).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch that three episode arc that Ms. Cook did in season two of Dawson's Creek.