A quarter-century on from its 2001 release, Get Over It stands as one of the most gleefully offbeat teen comedies of its era – a film that never quite fit the mold, and is all the better for it. Arriving at a time when the genre was dominated by glossy prom-night fantasies and raunch-heavy gross-out humour, Get Over It carved its own strange, musical, Shakespearean path. Now, with its long-overdue Blu-ray debut, it feels like the perfect moment to reassess a movie that was perhaps too eccentric, too energetic, and too self-aware for its time.
Loosely inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the film swaps enchanted forests for suburban high school hallways and transforms mistaken identities into romantic confusion filtered through pop music, choreography, and adolescent longing. At its core, it’s a familiar story – boy loses girl, tries to win her back – but director Tommy O’Haver injects it with such manic theatricality that it becomes something far more distinctive.
What truly elevates Get Over It is its cast – an absurdly stacked ensemble that, in retrospect, feels like a snapshot of early-2000s talent on the cusp. Kirsten Dunst brings warmth and wit to lead Kelly, grounding the film emotionally while embracing its musical silliness. Ben Foster, as lovelorn Berke, commits fully to the role’s awkward sincerity, whilst Melissa Sagemiller and Shane West lean into the heightened romantic chaos as, respectively, Allison, Berke’s ex, and her ridiculously accented boyband boyfriend, Striker.
Then there’s the supporting lineup, which borders on outrageous in its depth: Colin Hanks, Sisqó, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldaña, Carmen Electra – even Vitamin C appears. It’s the kind of cast list that reads today either like a “before they were huge” or “when they were huge” time capsule, each performer adding a certain texture to the film’s hyperactive world.
But towering above them all is Martin Short.
As Dr. Desmond Forrest Oates, the wildly pretentious and utterly unhinged drama teacher, Short delivers a performance that feels like it’s operating on an entirely different comedic frequency. It’s not just funny – it’s fearless. Every line reading, every gesture, every absurd directional choice his character makes pushes the film further into delightful chaos. His presence transforms the school play – “A Midsummer Night’s Rockin’ Eve” – into a spectacle of comedic excess, culminating in a finale that teeters brilliantly between disaster and genius. It’s the kind of performance that demands reevaluation: bold, bizarre, and arguably one of the most memorable comedic turns in any teen film of the era.
What makes Get Over It endure, however, it’s just its cast or humour, it’s its commitment to tone. The film embraces a heightened, almost surreal reality where musical numbers erupt spontaneously, fantasies bleed into real life, and emotional beats are delivered with a wink rather than a lecture, The opening sequence alone – an entire town breaking into song-and-dance behind a heartbroken teenager – announces that this is not going to be a typical high school movie.
And yet, beneath the absurdity, there’s a sweetness that keeps it grounded. The romance between Berke and Kelly may follow a predictable arc, but it’s handled with enough charm and sincerity to make it land. The film understands that even within its exaggerated world, feelings matter – and that balance is part of what gives it staying power.
At the time of its release, Get Over It received mixed reviews and modest box office returns. Critics often dismissed it as lightweight or uneven, and audiences may not have known quite what to make of its theatrical ambitions. But 25 years later, those same qualities feel like strengths. In an era before teen movies became increasingly formulaic or self-consciously nostalgic, Get Over It was already experimenting – blending genres, leaning into camp, and refusing to play it safe.
Revisiting it now, especially in a restored format, reveals a film that was ahead of its time in spirit if not reception. It’s messy, yes. It’s occasionally juvenile. But it’s also vibrant, inventive, and unafraid to be unapologetically weird.
In the crowded landscape of early-2000s teen comedies, Get Over It may not have been the biggest or the most polished – but it might be just one of the most unique. And after 25 years, that’s exactly why it deserves to be remembered.
Get Over It is now available to buy on Blu-ray through Via Vision Entertainment.
