By Roger Moore
The Orlando Sentinel
Disney’s effort to turn Kristen Bell into America’s Sweetheart reaches its tipping point with “You Again,” a flat romantic comedy that packages her in a funny setup and surrounds her with funny people.
That the experiment tips over backwards isn’t wholly Bell’s fault. She’s certainly more interesting to watch here than she was in “When in Rome.” But the laughs are few in this variation on a “Mean Girls” theme. And not surprisingly, most of them come from the supporting cast.
Marni (Bell) was mercilessly bullied in high school, which was the last thing a kid with acne, braces, glasses and a really bad haircut needed. Her chief tormentor was J.J., the hotheaded cheerleader played with a cruel verve by Odette Yustman. J.J. was the girl who turned Marni’s initials, MOO, into a final humiliation. “Moo” she was, and “Moo” she might have remained.