Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed? Improbable as it sounds, the effervescent young movie veteran defies expectations and gives her all to the role of a nerdy teenager turned nerdy adult in this genial comedy about the nightmare side of high school. The film never gets beyond a lowest-common-denominator level of humor, but Barrymore proves herself a sporting clown, fully capable of carrying a movie comedy on her petite shoulders.

　　 The former child star plays Josie Geller, a mousy 25-year-old copy editor at the Chicago Sun-Times with ambitions to be a reporter. That opportunity comes when she is singled out by the paper's eccentric editor (Garry Marshall) to go undercover as a student at a local high school. Josie's big break conjures up memories of her days as 'Josie Grossie,' a geek with braces and no social skills, and she quickly discovers how little progress she's made since those traumatic teen years. Arriving in white jeans and a feather boa, the reporter is pegged a loser by the cool clique and finds her only acceptance among the outcast math team (led by the engaging Leelee Sobieski).（）

　　 Unable to fit in and on the verge of botching her first reporting assignment, Josie is rescued by her decidedly hipper older brother Rob (David Arquette), who takes time out from his dead-end job to re-enroll in high school and burnish his sister's reputation. Eventually, Josie is embraced by the 'in' crowd, but faces her toughest dilemma yet when her boss orders her to exploit her budding relationship with a handsome English teacher (Michael Vartan).

　　 In the most self-effacing comic performance since Ben Stiller's in There's Something About Mary, Barrymore is continually the butt of the movie's jokes, whether doing a pratfall at the school entrance, unknowingly walking around with 'loser' stamped on her forehead, or eating a hash brownie and dancing spastically onstage at a local dance club. She also has no compunction about looking dumpy and unattractive whenever the movie calls for it. The actress (who also serves as executive producer) brings so much of her likeable offscreen personality to the character, however, that the audience eagerly waits for Josie to catch a break.

　　 Part of the movie's formula for success is that more people relate to the high-school outsider than to the star jock or head cheerleader. Unlike the plucky Cinderella Barrymore played last year in Ever After, her new Cinderella is a bundle of insecurities who temporarily loses her moral bearings once she finally finds acceptance and the promise of love. When the proverbial 'midnight' strikes at the prom, Josie seems to lose everything, but what she's gained is a new level of self-awareness--and one last chance to win her prince. The lessons of Never Been Kissed are simple, but, thanks to Barrymore's goodhearted presence, Josie's comic emotional journey has plenty of mass appeal.