Slap Her, She's French! (2002)

A French foreign-exchange student comes to a small Texas high school, befriends a classmate, and practically takes over her life.

Director:

Melanie Mayron

Writers:

Lamar Damon, Robert Lee King

Stars:

Piper Perabo, Jane McGregor, Michael McKean

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Piper Perabo	...	Genevieve Le Plouff
Jane McGregor	...	Starla Grady
Trent Ford	...	Ed Mitchell
Julie White	...	Bootsie Grady
Brandon Smith	...	Arnie Grady
Jesse James	...	Randolph Grady
Nicki Aycox	...	Tanner Jennings
Alexandra Adi	...	Ashley Lopez
Matt Czuchry	...	Kyle Fuller
Cristen Coppen	...	Doreen Gilmore
Michael McKean	...	Monsieur Duke
Mary Portser	...	Kimmy Sue Sprinkle
Katherine Cortez	...	Lurlene Haskell
Jerry Cotton	...	Sheriff Flinkman
Kirk Sisco	...	News Contest Judge

Storyline

A French foreign exchange student, named Genevieve, comes to a small town in Texas to attend a local high school where she shacks up with the school's popular head cheerleader, Starla, and her parents. But Starla soon learns that this French girl is not only smart, attractive, and naive, but quite conniving when Geneviere, with no social life of her own, begins to take over Starla's, starting with stealing the affections her parents, her friends and Starla's boyfriend. When Starla is forced to quit the cheerleading squad after getting some bad grads, Genevieve moves in to take her place. When Starla figures out that Genevieve deliberately set it up by giving her bad tutoring to fail all those classes, she begins an all-out personal war against Genevieve to take back her social life. But Genevieve is anticipating exactly that type of response from Starla and soon turns everyone, including Starla's friends and family, against her by playing the poor victim and making it appear that ...

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Plot Keywords:

cool | 2000s | french woman abroad | french abroad | french girl abroad | 

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Taglines:

A high school comedy with a French twist

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor, drug content and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Michael Weston originally had a starring role.

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Goofs

When Starla gets out of jail and is entering the lobby area, we hear someone answer the phone "Splendona Police Department". It is actually the Splendona Sheriff's Department.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Starla Grady: [in a jail cell; voice-over] We're all capable of doing bad things. Lord knows I've done my share. Things I'm truly ashamed of. But should my life, so young and full of sweet promise, be tragically cut down before it ever had a chance to shine? If I ever get out of her, as God is my witness, somebody's gonna pay. Or as the great German philosopher Fred Nitsche once said: "that which does not kill us, is gonna wish it had," because we are about to Fed ex it's sorry ass back to skank ...

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Crazy Credits

No French people were harmed during the making of this film.

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Alternate Versions

The USA DVD version runs 88 minutes which is shorter than the original version. The TV network version, although edited with some scenes cut, has additional scenes and extended scenes which include a longer version of the opening 'Beef' beauty pa gent with the dance interrupted by Doreen protesting beef, as well as extended dressing room scenes between Starla, Ashley and Tanner. Also cut from the DVD is the part of Kimmy Sue introducing Tanner, the beauty finalist, first ahead of Ashley who mumbles her response to the questions. An extended scene of Starla talking to Geneieve in her bedroom about her desire to become a TV star.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

American Psycho
Written by Treble Charger
Published by Treble Charger
Performed by Treble Charger
Courtesy Nettwerk Productions

User Reviews

Better than most teen comedies in the past few years!

I remember seeing the trailer for this movie a few years ago and wanting to see it. It was originally supposed to come out in the summer of 2002, but ended up sitting on the shelf for a while. A few months ago, I caught it on the ABC Family Channel under the title SHE GETS WHAT SHE WANTS. While SLAP HER...SHE'S FRENCH is a much better title, I can see why it was changed. I guess it's not very PC, but then again, the movie itself isn't very PC, which is one of the reasons I liked it. It wasn't afraid to be a bit edgy. In addition to being edgy, the film is also quite over-the-top at times. While some may be bothered by the over-the-top scenes, I enjoyed them. They fit in well with the tone of the picture.

This is the the kind of movie MEAN GIRLS wanted to be. When one thinks about it, it's somewhat unfair that MEAN GIRLS got a theatrical release while this went straight-to-television since this is far superior. It's far better than most teen comedies that have come out in the past few years. **1/2

Details

Country:

Germany UK USA

Language:

English French Spanish Italian

Release Date:

7 February 2002 (Germany)

Also Known As:

She Gets What She Wants

Filming Locations:

Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,789,525

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandeira Entertainment, Constantin Film, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 2. Produktions KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 84 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1