''It's a Boy Girl Thing'' is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by

Nick Hurran Nick Hurran (born 1959) is a British film and television director. His 1998 film ''Girls' Night'' was entered into the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. Hurran is married to a television producer, Michele Buck, with whom he has two child ...

and written by

Geoff Deane Modern Romance is a British pop music band that found popularity in the early 1980s. Formed in 1980 by previous members of an earlier band, the Leyton Buzzards, the band achieved a string of UK chart hits before the original band broke up in 1 ...

, starring Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong and set in the United States but produced in the United Kingdom. The producers of the film are

David Furnish David James Furnish (born 25 October 1962) is a Canadian filmmaker and former advertising executive. He is married to English singer, pianist and composer Sir Elton John. Early life and education David Furnish was born in Toronto, Ontario, th ...

, Steve Hamilton Shaw of Rocket Pictures and Martin F. Katz of Prospero Pictures.

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

serves as one of the executive producers. ''It's a Boy Girl Thing'' was produced by Elton John's motion picture company

Rocket Pictures Rocket Pictures is a British film company founded in 1996 by Elton John to produce family and music-themed film and TV projects. The company was established in 1996 with a ten-year first-look deal with The Walt Disney Company, a three-year deal w ...

and independently distributed by

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...

Icon Productions Icon Productions is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey, which, unlike most other independent production companies, funds most of its development and production cos ...

and was released on 26 December 2006 in the United Kingdom and has since then been released in some countries in cinemas, in others directly to DVD, and in others as a TV film. Most of the school scenes were shot at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario.

Plot

Woody Deane ( Kevin Zegers) and Nell Bedworth ( Samaire Armstrong) are neighbors and former childhood friends who go to the same high school, but are otherwise completely different. Woody is a popular varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player while Nell is a girl who loves literature but lacks social skills. They loathe each other and are constantly in dispute. One day their class goes on a school trip to a museum and they are forced to work together on an assignment. They quickly begin arguing in front of a statue of the ancient

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

god Tezcatlipoca. As they argue, the statue casts a spell upon them—causing them to wake up in each other's bodies the next morning. When they arrive at school, they immediately blame each other for the body swap, but agree to pretend to be the other person until they can find a way to switch back. At first, they seem to succeed, but quickly return to arguing when they each feel the other is misrepresenting them in the opposite body, such as Woody (in Nell's body) answering a question oddly and surprising a teacher. The following day, Nell (in Woody's body) arrives at school wearing " Chinos and an

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

cotton button-down" making Woody's appearance look "dorky" which frustrates Woody, and he is even more frustrated after he hears about how Nell (in Woody's body) failed Woody's football practice the previous day. As payback, Woody (in Nell's body) dresses in inappropriate and provocative clothing the following day. After school, Nell, in retaliation, breaks up with Breanna ( Brooke D'Orsay), Woody's girlfriend, much to the disappointment of Woody. The humiliation competition continues when Woody (in Nell's body) drives off with a biker boy, Nicky (Brandon Carrera), and makes Nell think she is going to lose her

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. However, Woody decides it is "so gay" and leaves Nicky just as he is removing his clothing. The following day, rumors are being spread around school by Nicky about his night with Nell. When Nell finds out, she gets very upset. When Woody finds Nell, he admits that he didn't actually lose Nell's virginity and that everyone was simply spreading Nicky's lies. However, Nell is still let down and so Woody decides to confront Nicky. It turns out that Woody (in Nell's body) can't fight him, and Nell (in Woody's body) runs up and punches him in the face. After this, Nell and Woody reach a truce and realize the statue of Tezcatlipoca at the museum had something to do with their body swap. They head down to the museum and even after confronting the statue, they fail to return to their original bodies. They realize they are going to have to help each other in two important upcoming events. Nell must learn how to play football for Woody's

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

game and Woody must learn about poetry and literature for Nell's

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

interview. Later that night Nell (in Woody's body) is getting drunk at a party while Woody (in Nell's body) is stuck at a slumber party listening to all the gossip about himself, and is surrounded by nail polish, pajamas, slippers, and gets a bikini wax. After spending so much time together, Nell and Woody become very fond of each other and start to understand each other better. The night before the interview and the game, they agree to go to the Homecoming Dance together, as "not a date." The day of the interview and match, Woody goes to Yale for the interview and at first messes things up and is asked to leave, but he starts to talk about poetry in

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, which impresses and astonishes the interviewer. After that, he goes to the football game and watches Nell run in the winning

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

in the closing seconds. A college recruiter witnesses his good performance and wants to talk to him later. After the game, they congratulate each other for their successes. Shortly after this, the spell lifts and they return to their original bodies. The scene finishes with Woody being kissed by Breanna and Nell going home very upset about it. The following day, Woody tries to talk to Nell, but is stopped by her mother, who sees Woody's family as uneducated. Nell receives an acceptance letter from Yale, meaning that her interview (done by Woody in her body) was successful; however, she is still upset with Woody and decides not to go to the Homecoming Dance. Meanwhile, Nell's father has a talk with her on the porch about Woody, during which she confesses she truly likes him, and her father surprises her with a dress and shoes for the dance. Woody and Breanna are selected as the Homecoming King and Queen. As the Homecoming King and Queen prepare to dance, an upset Woody sees Nell and both confess their love for each other. They leave the school together and share a kiss in front of their houses. The following day, Nell tells her mother that she is taking a year's

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

before attending Yale, and hops into Woody's car as they drive off together.

Cast

Soundtrack

The movie's soundtrack features a range of music. Tracks include a cover version of "

I Think We're Alone Now "I Think We're Alone Now" is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was a major hit for group, reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 in April 1967. It finished at No. 12 on ''Bil ...

" by Girls Aloud, "

Let's Get It Started "Let's Get It Started" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas. It is a clean version of "Let's Get Retarded" from their third studio album, ''Elephunk'' (2003). The album version was originally only reworked for its use in prom ...

" by

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...

, " Be Strong" by Fefe Dobson, "

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

" by

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After l ...

and " Push the Button" and " Red Dress" by the Sugababes, as well as other songs by the likes of

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, Orson, Marz and many more. (Woody, as Nell, refers to " Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" as "crappy music!").

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 67% based on reviews from 9 critics.

Empire magazine ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other title ...

gave it a score of 3 out of 5.

References

External links