The film was released on September 24, 2010, by Touchstone Pictures to generally negative reviews from critics and it earned $32 million against a production budget of $20 million. It was the last solo Touchstone Pictures project before working on subsequent films in association with Miramax, DreamWorks, South African films, Studio Ghibli and Lucasfilm. As a result of this, Touchstone signed a deal with DreamWorks Pictures in 2011, starting with I Am Number Four.
Plot
In 2002 in Ridgefield, California, awkward teen Marni Olsen is tormented and bullied, especially by mean girl J.J. Her protective brother, Will, is a basketball star, oblivious to J.J.'s tormenting and her costing the team's crucial win by pushing the mascot-clad Marni into him.
Eight years later, Marni is a successful public relations executive in Los Angeles, recently promoted to their New York City office. She returns home for Will's upcoming wedding to 'amazing' Joanna. Having never met her, Marni discovers on the flight back that his betrothed is J.J.
Marni is both upset to see that her family adores Joanna and frustrated that J.J. supposedly doesn’t remember her, so does not apologize. Marni and Will's mother Gail unhappily discovers that Joanna's beloved aunt Ramona, a wealthy businesswoman paying for the wedding, is her ex high school best friend.
Marni won't forgive Joanna without an apology, but decides not to tell Will about her past bullying. A series of mishaps have her again looking like her high school self, further distressing her. Then, when Joanna plays the song she used to torment Marnie in high school, she realizes that J.J. does remember her. Marni decides to save Will from J.J., and digs up a video from the time capsule buried during her senior year which shows Joanna's bullying.
Meanwhile, Gail talks to Ramona for "closure" for the past. Seemingly they make up, but Ramona still seems unhappy with her.
Joanna's ex, Tim, is devastated to hear that she's marrying Will. At the bridal shower, Marni confronts Joanna privately, who finally admits she remembers her. Rather than apologizing, Joanna threatens her to not interfere with her and Will’s relationship. This makes Marni determined to ruin the wedding to protect Will.
Marni invites Tim as her date to the rehearsal dinner, hoping to cause problems. When the guests make their toasts, an emotional Tim embarrasses Joanna by announcing she'd left him at the altar. Later, the time capsule video is shown, with Joanna tormenting Marni and other students, including at the big basketball game. It shocks the guests and Will who, confused and upset, leaves to get some air.
Marni confronts Joanna again and they fight, throwing plates and glasses. Marni insists Joanna hasn't changed, pointing out that she pretended to forget her. A remorseful Joanna insists she did it to start over.
Marni destroys one of the wedding gifts, so Joanna dumps a bowl of cold soup on her head. Will sees this, scolds them both, then storms out, calling off the wedding. Then Ramona and Gail argue, Ramona complaining that Gail overshadowed her in high school and stole her crush, Richie Phillips. They end up falling into the pool, but make up. Gail's husband Mark appears, and at home he grounds both Marni and Gail.
That night, Marni finds Joanna in her wedding dress, crying and binge eating. She finally admits to feeling awful for the bullying. She tells Marni that she changed after her parents' death, hoping to become someone they could be proud of. She pretended not to know her because she feared her past bullying would cost her Will and his family, as she loves them all and feels part of a family again. Marni finally forgives her and promises to get them back together. She apologizes to Will too, explaining she was only trying to protect him from what Joanna had been.
Joanna and Will reconcile in the family's old tree house. However, their younger brother Ben had loosened the screws. It collapses, injuring them, forcing a hospital stay and delaying the wedding.
However, Marni throws together a wedding at the hospital. Gail surprises Ramona with Richie Phillips, and they seemingly start a relationship. Meanwhile, Marni appears to start one up with Charlie, her brother's best friend and the other person who was nice to her in high school.
Joanna introduces grandma Bunny to Helen, who'd also been high school rivals. Bunny finally gets her revenge when she cuts in on Helen's dance and takes her partner, while Helen swears that the game is not yet over.
Rotten Tomatoes gives You Again an approval rating of 19% based on reviews from 96 critics, with an average score of 4.00/10. The critical consensus reads: "You Again represents a rare opportunity to see some of Hollywood's finest female veterans together onscreen – and, unfortunately, wastes their talents almost completely."[4] On Metacritic, it had a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Jamie Lee Curtis and Kristen Bell were praised for their roles. The New York Times critic Stephen Holden wrote that "There is not a laugh to be found in this rancid, misogynistic revenge comedy," declaring "Like so many Disney movies, 'You Again' exalts shallow, materialistic values, then tries to camouflage its essentially poisonous content with several layers of sugar coating and weepy reconciliation."[7]Richard Roeper gave the film an F and stated that it was one of the worst movies he'd ever seen.[8] Among the more favorable reviews was Lana Berkowitz of The San Francisco Chronicle, who wrote that she enjoyed the mix of slapstick, musical numbers and surprise cameo appearances.[9] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic praised the cast for taking "a by-the-numbers comedy" and making it better than it has any right to be.[10]
Box office
The film opened at the box office at No. 5 with $8,407,513 and would go on to gross a domestic total of $25,702,053; with an international gross of $6,303,195, You Again grossed $32,005,248 worldwide;[3] against a $20 million production budget.[2]
^Goodykoontz, Bill (September 22, 2010). "'You Again,' 3 stars". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
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