By BOB THOMPSON
Toronto Sun
I don't care what people say, teen comedy romances are here to stay.
Get Over It is the reality and the title of the latest, not the greatest, in the never-ending series profiling horny boys trying to date hormonal girls.
Sort of like High School Inconsequential with a few laughs and lots of cliches. And just in time for March break!
In this Tommy O'Haver movie, which was shot in Toronto last summer, trendy and tacky collide, usually with messy results.
The cloying and self-conscious fluff is about a teen (Ben Foster) coping with being dumped by his sweetie (Melissa Sagemiller), whom he still yearns for.
Coming to his emotional rescue is Kirsten Dunst, who plays the rebound hottie with varying degrees of success, but with a consistently fine camera-enhanced glow.
Martin Short is on hand, too. Depending on your Short penchant for his enthusiasm, he provides either surefire comic relief, or predictable fey goofing as the drama teacher.
Drama teacher? The hook here is that the kids put on a show -- while they while away their loves and losses -- which is a loose musical take on A Midsummer Night's Dream.
As an apparent added bonus, O'Haver (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss) offers Midsummer Night's Dream-like surrealistic inserts mirroring the teen-love action. These are forced and mostly lame to the extreme.
Better are the co-starring sidekicks. Colin Hanks, Tom's son, does a decent job as Berke's friend and concerned older brother to Dunst's demure sister. Rapper Sisqo appears briefly as part of the Berke buddy brigade, and gets by on his likability. Take a bow Ed Begley Jr. and Swoosie Kurtz as Berke's progressively silly parents.
The villain in this juvenile-set piece gets the proper smarmy treatment from Shane West. He portrays Striker, the handsome new kid on the block and boy-band member who hustles Berke's former flame, creating the required, and incredibly dopey, conflict.
Unfortunately, Dunst, who shone in last year's adolescent Bring It On, and Foster, more memorable from Liberty Heights, seem distant and disconnected as the future couple.
Generally, so is Get Over It. This formula film has no chemistry, even if it does deliver a few chuckles.
