She's The Man (2006)

Directed by Andy Fickman. With Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum, Vinnie Jones. When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguised as him, and proceeds to fall for one of his soccer teammates, and soon learns she's not the only one with romantic troubles.

She's the Man is a 2006 American romantic comedy sports film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey and Emily Perkins.

It's hard enough being the nerdy new guy on campus without also being the new girl on campus, who has fallen for the coolest guy on campus. Viola Johnson had her own good reasons for disguising herself as her twin brother Sebastian and enrolling in his place at his new boarding school, Illyria Prep. She was counting on Sebastian being AWOL from school, while he tried to break into the music scene in London. What she didn't count on was falling in love with her hot roommate, Duke, who in turn only has eyes for the beautiful Olivia. Making matters worse, Olivia is starting to fall for Sebastian, who -- for reasons Olivia couldn't begin to guess -- appears to be the sensitive type of guy she'd always dreamed of meeting. If things weren't complicated enough, the real Sebastian has come back from London two days earlier than expected and arrives on campus having no clue that he's been replaced -- by his own twin sister.

I didn't for one second believe the plot of "She's the Man," but I did believe for the entire movie that Amanda Bynes was lovable. She plays a girl who pretends to be a boy in order to play soccer. That this story is recycled from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" is something I report right here at the top so that we can work together to put it out of our minds.

She's The Man. 1.2M likes. Everybody has a secret... Duke wants Olivia who likes Sebastian who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she...

Amanda Bynes proves that girls can do anything guys can do in She's the Man. The laughs are non-stop when Viola (Bynes), disguised as her twin brother, Sebas...

Viola Johnson is in a real jam. Complications threaten her scheme to pose as her twin brother, Sebastian, and take his place at a new boarding school. She falls in love with her handsome roommate, Duke, who loves beautiful Olivia, who has fallen for Sebastian! As if that were not enough, Viola's twin returns from London ahead of schedule but has no idea that his sister has already replaced him on campus.

I hated it when I saw it in 2006, and I never gave it a second chance. Until now.

We take a close look at the Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum film on its tenth anniversary.

"She's the Man" reminds us that girls can do anything boys can do, unless those girls happen to exist in a romantic comedy, in which case their ultimate ambition is to squeeze into an expensive dress and get it on with a dumb stud.

The itch to put on a show propels "She's the Man," a spunky if often erratic update of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" to the privileged milieu of contempo American prep schools. Pic marks screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith's second venture with the Bard, although this one lacks much of the cutting wit of their "10 Things I Hate About You" (based on "The Taming of the Shrew").