Get Over It Information

Get Over It is a 2001 American romantic comedy film about a teenage boy whose girlfriend ends their relationship. The film was directed by Tommy O'Haver for Miramax Films. The film stars Ben Foster, Kirsten Dunst, Melissa Sagemiller, Sisqó, Colin Hanks, Shane West, and Martin Short. R. Lee Fleming, Jr. loosely based the screenplay on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Plot

Berke Landers (Ben Foster) and his girlfriend Allison (Melissa Sagemiller) were the quintessential high-school couple, but she breaks up with him immediately after the film begins. She then begins a new relationship with Striker (Shane West), a 'foreign' student who was once the lead singer of a boy band. When Allison and Striker audition for the school's upcoming musical, Berke desperately tries to win Allison back by also auditioning for the play, despite having no theatrical talent and having a busy schedule as a member of the basketball team. Meanwhile, Berke's friends Felix (Colin Hanks) and Dennis (Sisqó) try to find a new girlfriend for him.

With the help of Felix's younger sister, Kelly (Kirsten Dunst), a talented songwriter and singer, Berke wins a minor role in the play, a modern musical version of Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream called A Midsummer Night's Rockin' Eve, written and directed by the school's domineering drama teacher, Dr. Desmond Oates (Martin Short). Striker plays Demetrius, Allison plays Hermia, Kelly plays Helena, and Lysander is to be played by the school's star actor, Peter Wong (Christopher Jacot). But after Peter is injured in a freak accident, Striker nominates Berke to take over the role of Lysander, and, still intent on winning Allison back, Berke accepts. He gradually improves with continuing assistance from Kelly, but remains unaware of the growing attraction between the two of them. Meanwhile, Oates blames Kelly's singing for his own poorly written song and rejects her suggestions to improve it.

At a party at Berke's house, Kelly kisses Berke, but he insists that a relationship between them could not work because she is Felix's sister. She leaves him, annoyed at his unwillingness to move on with his life, and Felix, coming across the two, punches Berke. At the same party, Berke and Allison catch Striker cheating on Allison with her best friend Maggie (Zoe Saldana), and so Allison breaks up with Striker.

On the play's opening night, the first half of the performance goes smoothly except for some onstage scuffling between Berke and Striker. During the intermission, Allison confides to Berke that she wants to get back together with him, leaving him with a difficult choice between her and Kelly. Meanwhile, Striker bribes two of the theater technicians to try and blow up Berke using stage pyrotechnics. Before the play resumes, Felix gives the orchestra sheet music for a love ballad written by Kelly to replace Oates' unpopular tune.

After the curtain rises, Kelly sings her song so beautifully that Berke is reminded of their time together and finally realizes he loves her. As the fourth act begins, he abandons his lines from the script and makes up his own verse professing his character's love for Kelly's character Helena. The audience applauds as Berke and Kelly kiss. Striker protests this change, but unwittingly signals the technicians to set off the explosion, blowing him offstage. Kelly and Berke leave the theater after the show, looking forward to their future together as they discuss the next night's performance.

Cast

• Kirsten Dunst as Kelly Woods
• Ben Foster as Berke Landers
• Melissa Sagemiller as Allison McAllister
• Sisqó as Dennis Wallace
• Shane West as Bentley "Striker" Scrumfeld
• Colin Hanks as Felix Woods
• Martin Short as Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates
• Swoosie Kurtz as Beverly Landers
• Ed Begley, Jr. as Frank Landers
• Zoe Saldana as Maggie
• Mila Kunis as Basin
• Carmen Electra as Mistress Moira
• Christopher Jacot as Peter Wong
• Dov Tiefenbach as Little Steve
• Vitamin C as Herself

Release

Get Over It was originally rated R due to more sexual dialogue by Mistress Moira and a more explicit view of the strip club. It was cut in order to achieve the teen audience the film was aimed for.

Critical response

Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 44% of 63 critics have given the film a positive review, holding an average score of 5.0 out of 10. According to the website, the film's critical consensus is, "As with most teen movies, Get Over It is entirely predictable, and there's not enough plot to sustain the length of the movie. However, it is not without its charms." The film scored a 52 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 14 reviews. Scores ranged from San Francisco Chronicles generous 100 and LA Weeklys highly critical 20; the film has been called a 'lobotomised updating of A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

Box office performance

The film opened at #7 in the North American box office with $4,134,977 and closed after five weeks. Based on a $10 million budget, Get Over It earned $19,900,366 worldwide.