Hmmm, this seems to be the year for an onslaught of teen flicks. We had 'Cruel Intentions', 'She's All That' and now we're going to be hit with 'Never Been Kissed', another romantic comedy but one which gives us the chance to relieve our teenage years. Did you ever feel that you didn't quite fit in with the social structure in high school? And you were struggling to hang out with the 'cool' crowd or popular gang? Maybe all you wanted was just to be accepted by the popular guys or gals but were constantly rebuffed and bullied by them?

Well, this is the theme being explored in 'Never Been Kissed', with surprisingly nice, heartwarming and humorous results. And if you're thinking, "Please! No! Another She's All That!", you're about as wrong as its possible to get. 'She's All That' was about a geek being transformed into the prom queen a.k.a. the most popular girl in school whereas in 'Never Been Kissed', we get to watch the torments a geek goes through and how she deals with it. And let me tell you, Drew Barrymore's superb performance here really enthralled the audience and had us rooting for her character throughout the movie.

'Never Been Kissed' stars Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer, Ever After), David Arquette (Scream, Scream 2), Leelee Sobieski (t.v. mini-series Joan Of Arc, Deep Impact), Molly Shannon (Analyze This), Jeremy Jordan (t.v. mini-series Storm Of The Century), Michael Vartan, Gary Marshall and John C. Reilly. The director is Raja Gosnell (Home Alone 3) and the screenplay is written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. Drew Barrymore also co-produced 'Never Been Kissed' and this is an actress whose career is positively blooming.

In 'Never Been Kissed', Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) is the youngest copy editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, who wants badly to become a reporter. She gets her chance when her boss, Rigfort (Gary Marshall), wants somebody to go undercover at the local high school, South Glen High and gain insights into what's it like to be today's teenager. Here, she runs into some problems. Her first problem and a minor one, is that her colleague Anita (Molly Shannon) and immediate superior, Gus (John C.Reilly) don't think she's capable of doing it and thus raise objections. Her second problem and a major one is that in her past high school life, she could never fit in with the popular kids and always got hammered and humiliated by them. Flashbacks here show us just how terribly wretched and horrifying her high school experiences were. (I must say, I still shudder when I recall her flashbacks. No one should have to go through that!) And now, despite being a 25 year-old adult, she's still a klutz who lacks self-esteem and confidence.

At South Glen High, she befriends Aldys (Leelee Sobieski), a nerd who's the leader of the school's calculus team. She also gains a crush on the school's most popular guy, Guy Perkins (Jeremy Jordan) but at the same time, she finds herself attracted to her English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan). However, her old high school torments resurface to make her life totally miserable again and this is where her brother Rob (David Arquette) comes in.

In 'Never Been Kissed', Drew Barrymore is simply great in her role as the geeky, childlike, always-trying-to-please and vulnerable Josie Geller. You're going to feel sorry for her character as she goes through all the cruel jokes and pranks her schoolmates throw at her. However, she still manages to make you laugh with all the crazy situations she gets into. She carries her role so well that the audience can't help but empathize with her. All I can say is , what marvelous acting!

'Never Been Kissed' also has a great supporting cast. David Arquette is wonderful as the caring brother and quite funny in the way he establishes his character in the story. Molly Shannon is hilarious as the sex-crazed Anita and John C. Reilly's sarcastic remarks and stressed-out humor is amusing. Throw in an irascible and hard-to-please boss character with an actor like Gary Marshall and you got a cast that's really a lot of fun to watch.

The movie moves along nicely and also humorously explores some of the changes in high school that have taken place since Josie last attended eight years ago, like the installation of metal detectors and contemporary dressing styles. It was really funny the way 'Never Been Kissed' showed what was 'in' eight years ago is 'out' nowadays. The only criticism I have is that 'Never Been Kissed' is still using the standard formula of a teenage movie, with all the usual elements thrown in, like romance, heartbreaks and the prom night at the end of the story. (Just what is so important about the prom night in American high school culture? Can somebody please explain it to me?)