“I’m not Josie Grossie anymore!”

Justin’s rating: Ain’t not been smooched

Justin’s review: Do you remember the teen romcom? This really saw its heyday in from 1995 to 2005, with practically a new entry coming out every other week. Some of them got better with age (10 things I Hate About You), some became utterly quotable in the pop culture lexicon (Clueless), and some the eternal subject of mockery (She’s All That).

During this time period, Drew Barrymore embraced the romcom with a vengeance and successfully stood toe-to-toe with the biggest names in the room. Following The Wedding Singer and Ever After, she closed out the ’90s with Never Been Kissed — a title that did middling box office at the time but garnered an affectionate fandom in the decades to come.

Desperate to break into journalism, nerdy loner Josie (Barrymore) is tagged by her boss at the Chicago Sun Times to undertake an unconventional undercover assignment. Using her youthful looks, she goes back to high school to experience those hellish days all over again. It’s the second chance that none of us really want, but Josie’s determined to find a great story and maybe redeem her reputation as “Josie Grossie” in the process.

And if the title of the movie didn’t spoil it, in this universe of apparently blind men, Josie’s never been kissed before. That’s probably because she over-idolizes this perfect hypothetical moment that it can only be satisfied by a carefully orchestrated movie director.

With the help of her cool brother Rob (David Arquette) and a new teen best friend Aldys (Leelee Sobieski), Josie maybe has a shot of pulling off this ridiculous premise. You’re going to have to suspend a smidge of belief to see 23-year-old Barrymore as a 17-year-old, although I don’t think it’s quite as unbelievable as scoffers claim. That’s just six years removed, after all.

So on one hand you have the fun of watching the socially inept Josie try to do high school better this time around while fishing for a cool story (shades of 21 Jump Street?). But on the other hand, this IS a romcom, which means Josie’s got to find her true love’s kiss or somesuch.

This comes in the form of teacher Sam (Alias’ Michael Varten), which is kind of icky if you look at it from one angle and totally acceptable if you tilt your head the other way and pay attention to the warm chemistry between the two and the fact that this is only a movie and maybe y’all should lighten up a bit?

Josie is a complete dork as both an adult and a teen, but a lovable one with a brain. She’s a perfect underdog as a result — and we want her to succeed so bad. Toss in an exaggerated look at high school and a great soundtrack, and this starts to get pretty fun.

It also helps that Never Been Kissed is blessed with a handful of strong supporting comedians, including Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, and Allen Covert. It kind of feels like a relative of one of Adam Sandler’s ’90s movies because of all the actor ties. Squint, and you’ll also spot James Franco and Jessica Alba in the school halls.

There are a few deliberately cringe moments that play into Josie’s past and present troubles, but they don’t overstay their welcome and are fundamental to her character, so I’ll excuse them. Barrymore’s girl-next-door looks and persona functions to keep her within reach of our imaginations and sympathy, and while this whole setup isn’t wholly believable, she makes it work.

I think Never Been Kissed will always be more of my wife’s favorite than my own, but I don’t hate revisiting this from time to time. I will, however, pop in that amazing soundtrack whenever I want to return to this era.

Intermission!

• Nice crowd fakeout on the street: “I’m the one over there.”
• Everyone really loves to be grammatically corrected
• That’s a LOT of bed pillows
• Molly Shannon is a national treasure
• If you’re going undercover, maybe don’t wear so much fluffy fringe
• She wears a beeper? In 1999?
• “I’m sorry I’m late.” “I’m sorry my hot flash medication isn’t working today!”
• “Like five chickens had to die so she could look that stupid.”
• The punishment hat
• “I don’t think you’re supposed to wear white jeans after 1983.”
• “You guys are still telling that lie?”
• The marching band playing the Simpsons theme
• These kids are way too happy that the prom theme is “millennium”
• “You’re going to get jiggy with them!”
• “Gus?” “No, it’s the great and powerful Oz!”
• Feel free to eat brownies given to you by strangers at dance clubs
• “Rufus!” is not a catch phrase that caught on
• That’s a lot of bananas and condoms
• Yes, you want to be crunched.