'Slap her, she's French', a farcical tale of schoolgirl competitiveness, role reversal, just deserts and cow licking (!) set deep in the heart of Texas, is as loud, brash and dopey as its title would have you believe - but these are not necessarily undesirable qualities in a teen movie.
In order to win a beauty pageant, shallow and manipulative head cheerleader Starla Grady (Jane McGregor) agrees to sponsor a French exchange student, whom she uses as her own personal slave while offering instruction in the weird ways of Texas - but gawky (i.e. beautiful but bespectacled) Genevieve LePlouff (Piper Perabo) is a suspiciously fast learner, and is soon displacing Starla as most popular girl, making a showdown between the teens as inevitable as acne.
The first half of this film, narrated by Starla from a police cell, is wickedly catty and sets just the right tone of surreal silliness, more at her own expense than at that of 'la Fiend' - but once the film has caught up with its starting point and Starla's narration comes to an end, the film loses all its irony, and descends into mere slapstick.
In order to win a beauty pageant, shallow and manipulative head cheerleader Starla Grady (Jane McGregor) agrees to sponsor a French exchange student, whom she uses as her own personal slave while offering instruction in the weird ways of Texas - but gawky (i.e. beautiful but bespectacled) Genevieve LePlouff (Piper Perabo) is a suspiciously fast learner, and is soon displacing Starla as most popular girl, making a showdown between the teens as inevitable as acne.
The first half of this film, narrated by Starla from a police cell, is wickedly catty and sets just the right tone of surreal silliness, more at her own expense than at that of 'la Fiend' - but once the film has caught up with its starting point and Starla's narration comes to an end, the film loses all its irony, and descends into mere slapstick.