She's The Man emerged as a moderate commercial success, grossing $57.2 million against a budget of $20–25 million. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Bynes' performance was universally praised.
Plot
Viola Hastings is a teen girl who plays for the girls soccer team at her high school, Cornwall Prep. Her dream is to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels. However, the team gets cut. Viola and her friends try to join the boys' team, but the coach refuses. Viola's boyfriend, Justin, supports the coach's decision, upsetting Viola, and resulting in their breaking up.
Meanwhile, her twin brother, Sebastian has to enroll in Illyria, an elite boarding school, as he was recently expelled from Cornwall for skipping classes, but he secretly goes to London with his fledgling band instead. Sebastian is also struggling with his sex life and relationship with his shallow girlfriend, Monique.
Viola agrees to cover for Sebastian by telling each of their divorced parents that he is staying at the other's house. Viola decides to pass herself off as Sebastian, hoping to join their boys' team and beat Cornwall to prove their coach and her cocky ex-boyfriend, Justin, wrong for suggesting cancellation of the ladies' soccer team. With the help of her stylist friend, Paul, she is transformed into "Sebastian" and attends Illyria in his place.
While moving in, she meets her roommate, Duke Orsino, Illyria's attractive soccer team captain. During tryouts, Viola fails to impress Coach Dinklage and is assigned to second string, much to her dismay. Her teammates, including Duke, initially dislike "Sebastian" as he's awkward and strange. However, with help from Paul once again, they begin to accept him into their social circle.
"Sebastian" then gets the popular and beautiful Olivia Lennox as his lab partner, which frustrates Duke, as he has feelings for her. "Sebastian" agrees to put in a good word for him if he trains him to be a better soccer player. Coach Dinklage eventually notices "Sebastian's" effort and improvement, promoting him to first string.
At the Junior League carnival, where her mother has made her volunteer, Viola works a shift at the kissing booth and kisses Duke. Duke expresses to "Sebastian" that he might move on from Olivia as he is starting to like Viola now. She is delighted as she secretly feels the same way.
Olivia, who now has a crush on "Sebastian", asks Duke out on a date, hoping to make "Sebastian" jealous. Viola, who is unaware of Olivia's true intentions, is enraged instead because Duke has now abandoned his interest in Viola. When she finds out the truth, she encourages Olivia to tell "Sebastian" directly how she feels.
The situation becomes complicated when the real Sebastian returns from London a day early, unbeknownst to Viola. As soon as he arrives at Illyria, Olivia confesses her feelings and kisses him. Duke, seeing this, believes his roommate has betrayed him. When "Sebastian" returns to their room, they have an argument and Duke kicks him out. Viola oversleeps and misses the first half of the game, while the real Sebastian is mistaken for "Sebastian" and winds up poorly playing his sister's game instead. At half-time, Viola explains the situation to him and they switch places again.
Duke, still furious at "Sebastian", refuses to cooperate with him on the field. Determined to make amends, "Sebastian" shows everyone he is actually Viola by flashing her breasts. Illyria wins the game when Viola scores a goal, finally humiliating Justin and the rest of the Cornwall boys.
Everyone at Illyria celebrates their victory over Cornwall, except for Duke who is hurt about Viola's deception. Viola introduces Sebastian and Olivia officially, and they begin dating. She and Sebastian's divorced parents also make up, exchanging contact information to be better parents for their children. She invites Duke to her debutante ball, through an invitation delivered by Sebastian, now Duke's actual roommate. Still hurt, Duke doesn't respond to the invitation, devastating her.
At the ball, Viola fears Duke won't show up; she distracts herself by assisting Olivia, who is being escorted by Sebastian to the ball, and is touched that Paul offers to be her date. Her mother shows up with a dress suiting Viola's "no ruffles" policy, but Viola decides to go for a walk instead.
Viola finds Duke outside, who admits he has feelings for her, but insists on no more deception, which she promises. At the ball, Monique is escorted by Justin, Olivia by Sebastian, and Viola and Duke enter the stage late, but together, with Viola in her new dress, much to the joy of her mother. Viola and Duke share a kiss before joining the crowd. At the end of the film, Viola and Duke are shown happily playing on Illyria's soccer team together.
Cast
Amanda Bynes as Viola Hastings, a talented soccer player underestimated for being a girl, who dresses up as her twin brother Sebastian to play soccer at Illyria
Channing Tatum as Duke Orsino, the soccer team captain, who is in love with Olivia and, later, with Viola
Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum were cast respectively in the lead roles of Viola Hastings and Duke Orsino. Tatum had been chosen at Bynes' insistence, as she felt that he would be received well by audiences.[4] She told Paper in 2018 that "I totally fought for Channing [to get cast in] that movie because he wasn't famous yet," she said. "He'd just done a Mountain Dew commercial and I was like, 'This guy's a star—every girl will love him!' But [the producers] were like, 'He's so much older than all of you!' And I was like, 'It doesn't matter! Trust me!'"[5][4]
In order to prepare for the role, as it was her first time playing a role of the opposite sex, Bynes and Fickman observed males at a shopping mall.[6] In an interview with MSN in 2006, she said that the part had been difficult for her to play, stating that she felt "awkward" in the role; she later spoke highly of the experience, saying that "It was hard, but I did it and I did something that was not easy for me—so it was a cathartic experience and I felt really good getting it out of me."[6] However, in a 2018 interview with Paper, Bynes admitted that her role in the film eventually had a negative effect on her mental health. "When the movie came out and I saw it, I went into a deep depression for four to six months because I didn't like how I looked when I was a boy," Bynes said. Seeing herself onscreen with short hair, thick eyebrows, and sideburns was "a strange and out of body experience."[5]
Neither Bynes nor Tatum were skilled at soccer before filming, so they played the sport for hours each day to prepare for the role.[7] In a bathroom scene in the film, where a fight occurs between the characters of Bynes and actresses Laura Ramsey and Alexandra Breckenridge, some of the stunts performed had been done by the actors themselves. Fickman stated in a behind-the-scenes feature that "As much as we had our three wonderful stunt actresses there, too, when you see the cut of the movie, it's a lot of our girls pounding each other,".[6][8]
Release
Home media
She's The Man debuted on DVD on June 27, 2006, in both widescreen and fullscreen editions.[9] For the film's 15th anniversary, Paramount released the film on Blu-ray for the first time on March 2, 2021.[10]
Reception
Box office
She's The Man opened at #4 at the North American box office making $10.7 million USD in its opening weekend. Its budget was approximately $20–25 million, and the film grossed $33,687,630 million domestically with a total gross of $57.2 million worldwide.[2][1]
Critical response
Bynes' performance was universally acclaimed, winning her a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award; it has often been considered her signature film role.
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave She's the Man a rating of 44% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The critical consensus reads, "Shakespeare's wit gets lost in translation with She's the Man's broad slapstick, predictable jokes, and unconvincing plotline."[11]Metacritic, gave the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.[13]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "...Amanda Bynes let us say that she is sunny and plucky and somehow finds a way to play her impossible role without clearing her throat more than six or eight times. More importantly, we like her."[14] Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, critic Ruth Stein wrote: "Bynes displays a flair for comedy, especially when Viola studies guys walking down the street and mimics their gait and mannerisms. Bynes uses her elastic face to show Viola's every thought making the transition and doing her darnedest to pull it off... She's not going to win an Oscar for playing a boy, as Hilary Swank did [in Boys Don't Cry (1999)]; but Bynes makes a far more convincing one than Barbra Streisand in Yentl (1983)."[15]
Refinery29 wrote in a review praising Bynes' both as Viola and Sebastian, writing "As Viola, Bynes is confident and charming, the kind of Jennifer Lawrence-like cool girl who would gladly hand you a tampon in the bathroom—as long as she’s not already using it to stop a nosebleed. As Sebastian, she oozes an inexplicable form of awkward charisma, spitting out perfect line delivery after perfect line delivery, her facial expressions working overtime to nail the laugh. It remains one of her best, most challenging performances."[16][17]
Criticism was brought towards Tatum's casting. Roger Ebert wrote: "Tatum is 26, a little old to play a high school kid..."[14]Neil Smith for BBCi stated that "Bynes tackles her part with gusto, while Tatum underplays his to striking effect."[18]
Amanda Laura Bynes is an American manicurist and former actress. Bynes began her career as a child, appearing on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That (1996–2000) and its spin-off series The Amanda Show (1999–2002). During her mid-teens, she played Holly Tyler on the WB sitcom What I Like About You (2002–2006), Kaylee in the teen comedy film Big Fat Liar (2002) and Daphne Reynolds in the comedy film What a Girl Wants (2003), and voiced Piper Pinwheeler in the animated film Robots (2005). As an adult, she starred as Viola Hastings in the romantic comedy film She's the Man (2006), Penny Lou Pingleton in the musical film Hairspray (2007), and Marianne Bryant in the comedy film Easy A (2010).
The Amanda Show is an American sketch comedy and variety show television series created by Dan Schneider and starring Amanda Bynes that aired on Nickelodeon from October 16, 1999, to September 21, 2002. A spin-off of All That, another Nickelodeon variety show featuring Bynes, The Amanda Show's cast members include Drake Bell, Nancy Sullivan, John Kassir, Raquel Lee, and Josh Peck. Writers for the show include Christy Stratton, Jenny Kilgen, Dan Schneider, John Hoberg, Steven Molaro, and Andrew Hill Newman.
Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man.
Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama Coach Carter (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film Step Up. He gained wider attention for his leading roles in the sports comedy She's the Man (2006), the comedy-drama Magic Mike (2012) and its sequels Magic Mike XXL (2015) and Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023), the latter two of which he also produced, and in the action-comedy 21 Jump Street (2012) and its sequel 22 Jump Street (2014).
Amanda Crew is a Canadian actress. Following her film debut in Final Destination 3 (2006), Crew had lead roles in films such as Sex Drive (2008), Charlie St. Cloud, Repeaters, Charlie Zone (2011), Ferocious (2013), Chokeslam (2016), Freaks (2018), and Tone-Deaf (2019). She is known for her lead roles as Carrie Miller on the CTV teen drama series Whistler (2006–2008) and Monica Hall on the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley (2014–2019).
Jenna Lee Dewan is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and later worked with artists including Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her role as Nora Clark in the 2006 film Step Up. She has also starred on the short-lived NBC series The Playboy Club and had a recurring role on the FX series American Horror Story: Asylum. She portrayed Freya Beauchamp on the Lifetime series Witches of East End, Lucy Lane in The CW series Supergirl and Superman & Lois, and Joanna in Soundtrack on Netflix. Dewan has hosted the reality television shows World of Dance and Flirty Dancing and served as a judge on Come Dance with Me. She currently stars as Bailey Nune on ABC's The Rookie. She also had a recurring role on the FOX medical drama The Resident.
Feste is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night. He is a fool attached to the household of the Countess Olivia. He has apparently been there for some time, as he was a "fool that the Lady Olivia's father took much delight in" (2.4). Although Olivia's father has died within the last year, it is possible that Feste approaches or has reached middle age, though he still has the wit to carry off good 'fooling' when he needs to, and the voice to sing lustily or mournfully as the occasion demands. He is referred to by name only once during the play, in answer to an inquiry by Orsino of who sang a song that he heard the previous evening. Curio responds "Feste, the jester, my lord; a fool that the lady Olivia's father took much delight in. He is about the house" (2.4). Throughout the rest of the play, he is addressed only as "Fool," while in the stage directions he is mentioned as "Clown."
Your Own Thing is a rock-styled musical comedy loosely based on Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. It premiered off-Broadway in early 1968. The music and lyrics are by Hal Hester and Danny Apolinar with the book adaptation by Donald Driver, who also directed the original production. Dorothy Love was the show's producer. The show was a success, running for 937 performances Off-Broadway and then touring and playing in London and Australia.
Twelfth Night is a 1996 romantic comedy film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring an all-star cast. Set in the late 19th century, it was filmed on location in Cornwall, including scenes shot at Padstow and at Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, with Orsino and his followers wearing uniforms that evoke the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Twelfth Night is a 1955 Soviet romantic comedy-drama film by Lenfilm based on Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, or What You Will. The script was written by Yan Frid. The film was released in the Soviet Union on 21 November 1955, and in the United States on 3 March 1956.
Duke Orsino is a fictional character from William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, believed to have been written around 1600-1602.
Viola is the protagonist of the play Twelfth Night, written by William Shakespeare.
Music Is is a musical with a book by George Abbott, music by Richard Adler, and lyrics by Will Holt. It is the second musical adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, following Your Own Thing in 1968.
Olivia is a fictional character from William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, believed to have been written around 1600 or 1601. She is at the centre of the various plots, both the comedic and the romantic. She has various suitors.
Illyria is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Peter Mills, based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, written in 2002. Illyria is a traditional adaptation of Twelfth Night, but features a more contemporary score.
Sebastian is one of the main characters from William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, believed to have been written around 1600 or 1601.
10 Years is a 2011 American romantic comedy written and directed by Jamie Linden in his directorial debut. It stars an ensemble cast including Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Rosario Dawson, Oscar Isaac, Lynn Collins, Chris Pratt, Scott Porter, Brian Geraghty, Aubrey Plaza, and Anthony Mackie. It was released September 14, 2012, in select theaters.
America: The Motion Picture is a 2021 American comedy film directed by Matt Thompson and written by Dave Callaham,. It stars Channing Tatum, Jason Mantzoukas, Olivia Munn, Bobby Moynihan, Judy Greer, Will Forte, Raoul Max Trujillo, Killer Mike, Simon Pegg and Andy Samberg. It is an R-rated, animated parody of George Washington and his fight against the British. The film uses anachronism, ahistoricism, and Americentrism to create a comic effect. Dates, the roles of various historical figures, battles, notable inventions and technologies are changed, reinvented or outright created. Prominent events and figures from the American Revolutionary War period and American history through to the 20th century are moved into the film's 1776 setting.
Twelfth Night is a 1910 silent short film directed by Eugene Mullin and Charles Kent. It is based on William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. It was produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America.
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