Drive Me Crazy (PG-13, 1999)

In DRIVE ME CRAZY, high school seniors Nicole (Melissa Joan Hart) and her next-door-neighbor/childhood pal Chase (Adrian Grenier) now travel in different crowds. She loves to cheer on the school basketball team and is planning the school's 100th anniversary dance. Chase is a rebel, protesting the mindless conformity of his classmates, too cool to support anything at school. When Nicole is unsuccessful in getting basketball star Brian to the big dance and Chase is dumped by his girlfriend Dulcie, they agree to pretend to be dating to see if they can make their respective heartthrobs jealous. Nicole gives Chase a makeover at Gap, and then they each visit the other's turf. They are surprised to find themselves enjoying each other's environments and friends and enjoying each other. It turns out that they're the ones who get jealous when Brian and Dulcie take the bait.

If a sitcom episode from the TGIF line-up was crossed with an MTV commercial, you'd get Drive Me Crazy, a genial half-hour story stretched out to movie length through the insertion of lots and lots of music for the 11- 16 crowd, who will line up to buy the soundtrack album. It is no coincidence that the name of the movie was changed to the name of Britney Spears' current hit song.

While the plot would fit into an old episode of Gidget and the film lacks subtlety and insight, it is undeniably fun to watch. Grenier, in particular, has real charm. This movie also addresses real issues about the tendency of high school kids to categorize themselves according to clearly defined extremes and to stick with friends who reinforce their interests, attitudes, and appearance.