Rebel Wilson

A miscast lead is one of many issues plaguing a broad and unfunny attempt to recapture the spirit of films like Never Been Kissed and Mean Girls.

Tonally, it’s all over the place, that aforementioned sap curdled together with Wilson’s trademark crudeness, an R-rated comedy that wants to be both sweet and salty, a balance it never manages to perfect. She might look 37 but she’s got the mind of a 17-year-old (there’s a knotty psychodrama that could have grown out of this premise) and so her every move must reflect this confusing discordance. It at least looks like the movies it desperately wants to be grouped together with, a quick tip-off to its origins, made by Paramount before being off-loaded to Netflix. British director Alex Hardcastle, best known for sitcom work, does an impressive job of fooling us into thinking we’re in safe hands with a slick and poppy aesthetic before the script, from Andrew Knauer, Arthur Pielli and actor Brandon Scott Jones, reminds us that we’re very much not, the loosely familiar framework of a sturdy studio comedy crumbling with every ill-advised decision made.

The actress is sprightly as ever, but Alex Hardcastle's Netflix comedy will send audiences in search of the stuff it attempts to imitate.

Little in “Senior Year” will surprise, and the film chugs through its predictable beats with good humor, but there’s not much else to recommend it. “Senior Year” stalls out while trying to thread the needle between the old and the new, instead finding its biggest insights (and best laughs) in a well-trod truism: People don’t change. The film’s script — credited to co-star Brandon Scott Jones, plus Andrew Knauer and Arthur Pielli — does attempt to interrogate those bad old habits (a scene in which Holland’s adult Martha explains to Stephanie that she can’t say “gay” as a pejorative is handled nicely, and actually has dramatic payoff), while also taking aim at our increasingly “woke” modern world. Thanks to the kind of contrivances only available in soft but well-meaning comedies (her old BFF Martha, played by the winning Mary Holland, is now the school’s principal; no one seems freaked out by the possibility of an adult woman hanging with teens all day), grown-up Stephanie is allowed to complete the final month of her senior year at the old high school. It stands to reason that Stephanie Conway, the Aussie outcast at the center of Alex Hardcastle’s “ Senior Year” would have seen “Never Been Kissed.” Released in 1999 — almost exactly when Hardcastle’s film starts — Drew Barrymore’s high school rom-com followed a well-meaning, dorky kid as she embarks on a do-over after a humiliating teen experience. But, oh, Stephanie dreams of being popular too, eventually making it happen through sheer force of will (plus tons of tips from teen magazines of the day, a cute touch) and by 2002, she’s the the queen bee of her senior year.

The comedy actress and producer discusses her growth in Hollywood over the past decade and the benefits of premiering her film on video streaming over a ...

She was so wonderful from the second I met her, she recognized the fact that I was the youngest on-set and that it was a little bit difficult and a little bit intimidating. With Senior Year skipping a theatrical release and going the increasingly trending route of premiering on video streaming, Rebel says of her comedy’s Netflix release, “To me, to release a comedy, it’s like the best platform because this movie will go wide in 200 countries on the same day and will be seen by millions and millions. “I remember like when I got in Bridesmaids, my goal was to just to come to Hollywood and get in one American movie. She made sure that it felt like summer camp when we were in Atlanta. We would go to movies and baseball games and dinners and she corralled us all and was such a great leader.” “My opinion of social media is I think I thank my parents for this, but I got onto social media very late, at least comparatively to a lot of my friends. I was like God, if I could just get in one, then people in Australia will think I’m legit as an actress and then Bridesmaids was such a huge hit. I think honestly, if you’re just like posting things that you love and make you happy and you want to share with the world, that’s all you really can do. “Most people don’t know I have a law degree and so, I kind of use some of the business side of things in the producing and it’s a different set of skills to acting. I couldn’t imagine - I mean, someone getting bullied at school is worse enough but then if you’re getting bullied through your phone as well, things like that, it can be really awful and just a whole other set of issues.” Being a part of the younger generation on social media himself, Joshua tells me, “I definitely have experienced times where I’m like Oh no, I didn’t get enough ‘Likes’ on this picture or my engagement is going down or something like that - it’s so stupid. I just rock up on-set and say funny stuff, but the producing - there’s a lot of work behind the scenes and a movie like this takes years to come together and put together and to bring in the whole team of talented people. There are so many differences between 2022 and 2002 culturally and in society and as a comic premise, that is going to be pretty good.”

In it, Rebel plays Stephanie Conway, a cheerleader who has been in a coma for 20 years. Once she wakes up, she decides she wants to go back to high school and ...

Once she wakes up, she decides she wants to go back to high school and redo her senior year. Of course, we weren't the only ones. "You look like a mermaid," said another.

The best scene in Senior Year on Netflix is Rebel Wilson performing Britney Spears' song 'Crazy.' Watch the full Senior Year dance scene here.

In a behind-the-scenes video released by Netflix, which you can watch above along with the full “Crazy” dance scene, Wilson said they rehearsed the number over the course of five days. “In a couple takes, our director Alex Hardcastle was like, ‘I thought for a second that was Britney.'” Equally impressive are the teen actors, some of whom, it turns out, are pretty amazing dancers. So it’s only fitting that Wilson’s character, Stephanie, would turn to Britney in a time of need. Much of Senior Year—the new Netflix comedy starring Rebel Wilson that began streaming today—is spent on nostalgia. But curiously, a lot of that nostalgia is for the year 1999, rather than 2002.

Rebel Wilson recycles her usual shtick in this retrograde raunch-com about a woman reclaiming her high school life.

While the kooky shenanigans and hijinks don’t yield much in the way of heart or humor, its snappy pace and the leading lady’s comedic prowess make it just worthy enough for your Netflix queue. Her teenage aspirations of one day owning the most picturesque house in town are quickly dashed when she discovers adult Tiffany (Zoe Chao) and Blaine (Justin Hartley) are married and living there. Her scenes with writer-actor Jones, who also co-starred with her in the aforementioned film, show off their pleasant rapport, yet sadly can’t save the picture. Her nuance also elevates the material, specifically in the third act, when the script calls on her to sell her character’s inevitable change from selfish to selfless. It doesn’t take long for Senior Year to lay out its outlandish premise, which is centered on a popular high schooler who awakens from a two-decade-long coma and, hoping to pick up right where she left off, strives to finish her senior year at the age of 37. Tragedy strikes when jealous class bully Tiffany (Ana Yi Puig) sabotages their show-stopping, Bring It On-esque cheer routine, landing the 17-year-old in a hospital bed, stuck in a coma.