Do nineties filmmakers really forget what it was like to be a teenager, and call upon "Saved By the Bell" reruns for a refresher course? I am a Canadian; if I were a stupid Canadian, I would conclude, from the new spate of teen movies, that there are two types of kids who attend American high schools: winners and losers. As I watched Never Been Kissed for the second time, I paid more attention to its background action. Sure enough, there isn't an in-betweener (a goth, a metalhead, a potential McDonald's employee...) in sight among the extras.

25-year-old copy editor Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) has been assigned by the short-tempered owner of the Chicago Sun Times (Garry Marshall) to go in cognito at a Chicago area high school and uncover what the kids are up to these days; her editor (John C. Reilly) takes this to mean something sexy and scandalous. Josie finds herself reliving the painful memories of her youth (classmates called her "Josie Grossie" and routinely played mean tricks on her, like filling her backpack with Sprite) when she is shunned by the in crowd at her new school. Only the nerds take an immediate liking to her.

Her layabout brother, Rob (Scream's David Arquette, less offbeat than usual but still charming), who was a hepcat in his senior year, takes pity on Josie and enrolls, too, hoping to spread strategic rumours that will boost her social status, and maybe recapture his glory days as a player on the school's baseball team. Meanwhile, Josie's English teacher (Michael Vartan), sensing her maturity (after all, she knows what "pastoral" means!), develops a crush on his oldest student. Will he be the first boy to ever kiss her?

Barrymore, who also produced, is just fine as the virginal reporter, and her early embarrassments as the new "kid" in class ring true. (Her desperate outfits, including white jeans with a white boa, do not--surely she would've consulted fashion magazines or an episode of "Dawson's Creek" before choosing clothes for the first week of school.) Josie's rapport with the mathletes is also believable; Leelee Sobieski avoids stereotype as their leader, a sympathetic nerd named Aldys.

In fact, there's nothing inherently bad about Never Been Kissed. The screenwriters just shove the more intriguing aspects of the material into the background, such as Arquette's character, a former all-star. Imagine what an interesting movie his story alone would make: retired jock returns to high school with the dream of being discovered by the scout who missed him the first time out. Aldys, too, gets left behind by the script after Josie's transition takes place--if what Rob says is true, that it takes just one key person to believe you're cool and you're in, then couldn't a popular Josie maintain a friendship with Aldys without worry?

Getting back to my initial point, Never Been Kissed is a candy-coloured picture with a decidedly bland perception of high school. There are cliques in teenland, to be sure, and a student's status is never more apparent than at lunch hour in the cafeteria, as it is in this film. However, according to my experiences, the lines between cliques are fuzzy at best, and there's never a ruling class, so to speak. Nor is there ever one guy, be it a Ferris Bueller, a Zack Morris, or in Never Been Kissed's case, a Guy (Jeremy Jordan), whose word is gospel. This shorthand is becoming tired: popularity is a myth.

Never Been Kissed was probably a title first and a script second. Its creators have taken the tamest, sunniest routes to its obvious outcome (I write obvious not as an insult: the climax had to hinge, and does, on whether or not Josie will remain unkissed), and some will find comfort in that. It's an old shoe of a movie. But I think Barrymore and co. would have made a better film if they'd gone back to high school themselves; that might've allowed a little complexity into the mix.

Fox's bare bones Never Been Kissed DVD at least boasts a sumptuous 2.35:1 widescreen (non-anamorphic) transfer of a ship-shape print. Alex Nepomniaschy's bright cinematography has been superbly adapted for television--contrast and fleshtones are always pleasing, shadow detail is excellent, and clarity is exceptional without seeming overenhanced. (Check out the bathroom walls of the Tiki torch store where Rob works--complicated faux-bamboo patterns that didn't suffer in the compression.) The 5.1 audio track is unexceptional. There are few surround effects (save for some crowd chants), and even fewer noises for the subwoofer to make. Stereo separation is subtle, at least, and the dialogue sounds full. A 2.0 surround mix is the default track. The only extra is a 1.85:1 letterboxed trailer (in stereo), though the lipsmack menu icons are a nice touch.-Bill Chambers