It worked for Shakespeare, so why not for Amanda Bynes?

Shakespeare had female characters pretending to be male because they were all played by men anyway. While his prodigious heart and brain certainly understood the rich and delightful narrative and comedic opportunities involved in having some characters in on the secret while others were not, even he probably did not understand how subversive and revolutionary the material could be. In his play Twelfth Night, Viola survives a shipwreck and arrives in Illyria. Thinking her brother Sebastian has been drowned, pretends to be a man to protect herself in a world that is treacherous for women who do not have anyone to protect them. She goes to work for a Orsino, a duke, who asks her to press his suit on Olivia. But Olivia has no interest in the duke; she begins to fall for the disguised Viola. As a man, Viola so resembles her brother that when he returns, not knowing she survived, he is mistaken for her, adding to the confusion.

The Viola in this story (Bynes) is a high school girl who loves soccer. The girls’ team is cut, and her boyfriend, captain of the boys’ team, won’t let them try out. So when her brother Sebastian (James Kirk) sneaks off to London with his rock group to play in a festival, she takes his place at at his new school, Illyria. Her plan is to try out for their soccer team as a boy and stay on long enough to beat their #1 rival, her school, with the team led by her now ex-boyfriend.

At first, the boys in the dorm think “Sebastian” is a little odd. But with the help of a friend, she gets a reputation as a hit with beautiful women. And she begins to get the hang of the guy thing, though there are still some challenges, like finding some time to take a shower when there’s no one around and explaining what the tampons are doing in her stuff.

Her roommate, Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum), captain of the Illyria soccer team, offers to help her become first-string if she will put in a good word for him with Olivia. But of course Olivia is attracted to “Sebastian,” especially after she reads the real Sebastian’s lyrics. Meanwhile, the twins’ mother expects them both at the Junior League carnival fund-raiser. Sebastian’s pushy girlfriend has to be kept at a distance so she doesn’t figure out what’s going on. And there’s that big game.

Bynes is a terrifically talented and appealing performer with the true fearlessness and lack of vanity of a born commedienne. This film doesn’t let her show off all she can do, but she handles the predictable complications well, from the quick changes in the carnival’s port-a-john to the faked grimace and moans when she gets hit in the crotch with a soccer ball.

First-time director Andy Flickman and a bright and able cast keep the energy high and the story moving. The opening credit sequence, a soccer game on the beach, sets a bright and brashly kinetic tone that keeps things bouncy as all of the characters and plot points come together for a happily ever after ending. Flickman and first-time writer Ewan Leslie wisely put a solid base of dignity and honesty under the pratt falls and close calls, avoiding the usual teen-movie gags (in both senses of the word). I hope they make a sequel, maybe an update of “Two Gentleman of Verona” set on a college campus?

Parents should know that the film includes some crude language (the b-word, etc.), and some comic implied nudity. There are a few punches and scuffles. But one strength of the film is that while the characters talk a great deal about who is “hot,” the film’s strong point of view is that the priority in relationships is emotional intimacy, not physical intimacy. Another strength of the movie is its casual portrayal of inter-racial relationships. While at first an unattractive character is played for laughs, ultimately, even she is treated with respect and affection.

Families who see this movie should talk about what led Viola to change her feelings about Justin and Sebastian to change his about Monique. What was the most important thing Viola learned? If you wanted to pretend to be the opposite sex, what would be the hardest part? Families should also talk about how important it was that Viola and Olivia valued themselves enough to make sure that they only spent time with boys who would value them, too. And they should compare this movie to Shakespeare’s version to find out, among other things, how Malcolm’s tarantula got the name “Malvolio.”

Families who enjoy this film will appreciate Disney’s High School Musical They will also enjoy the similarly themed gender-switching Just One of the Guys, and Tootsie (both with more mature material). And every family should enjoy the classic named as the American Film Institute’s top comedy of all time: Some Like it Hot. Families will also enjoy comparing this film to its source, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Trip (Matthew McConaughey) is a 35-year-old boat broker who happily resides in an assisted living facility where he is served fresh pancakes and bacon with warmed syrup and all of his clothes are cleaned, neatly folded, and placed on his bed. All aspects of his domestic arrangements are handled cheerfully by a devoted staff of two who are dedicated to his happiness and on call 24/7. They are his parents.

Mom (Kathy Bates) and Dad (Terry Bradshaw) love their son. They do everything for him, just as they always have. He even uses them to break up relationships with girls who get that look, the one that shows they’re thinking about making plans for the future. He brings them home, and when they see that he still lives with his folks, they can’t find the door fast enough.

Trip has all the pleasures of being a grown-up and none of the responsibilities. He has two friends who also live with their parents who go rock-climbing and paint-balling with him and lots of dates. But his parents, much as they love him, would like some time for themselves. They hire Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), an “interventionist” recommended by friends.

She crisply informs them that she will proceed according to a well-established formula designed to show Trip that he is ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. She will pretend to like what he likes, give him the opportunity to comfort her and to teach her something, earn the support of his friends, and voila — he will be ready for a delayed but successful launch.

But Trip turns out to be very different from the usual Trekkers and gear-heads she is used to coaxing into the world. Confidence and social skills are not the problem. What she finds out will leave her in need of an intervention herself.

This is a bright and bouncy date movie with some sharp lines and even sharper performances, especially from Bates and Bradshaw. The movie works a little too hard to convince us that just because Trip lives at home does not mean he isn’t completely manly — he is constantly shown climbing rocks, racing, shooting, sailing, or with his shirt off. And a recurring theme of animal bites (no kidding) really doesn’t work. The movie underuses the marvelous Zooey Deschanel in an underwritten “best friend” role. The big climactic scene is over-the-top, even within the romantic comedy genre. Both leads are a little too old for their parts (Deschanel would have been a more appealing Paula), but the energy and wisecracks keep us interested and the appeal of the characters and performers keep us involved. The movie’s take-off is as precarious as that of its main character, but the launch is successful.

Parents should know that the movie has some strong language (swearing, one f-word), non-sexual nudity (bare tush), and sexual references and non-explicit situations. Characters drink and one drinks frequently, possibly to excess. There is comic peril and violence, including spills and animal bites.

Families who see this movie should talk about how parents can teach their children to be independent. Why was it hard for Kit to let herself be happy?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Agatha Christie stories about Parker Pyne, who is often called in to solve the kinds of problems Paula tackles in this film.

I counted references to 23 movies in this 80-minute film, not including Girls Gone Wild and “The Bachelor,” or about one every three and a half minutes. Throw in a couple of songs and a dozen or so celebrity shout-outs and you’d hardly notice that there is not actually a script here if the whole thing wasn’t just so slack and uninspired.

Instead of a screenplay, it has a year’s worth of “In Touch Magazine” (the one “Will and Grace” calls “Cheaple”) thrown into a blender with some crotch humor and a joke about beating up a homeless man as a way to spend a romantic evening.

Julia (Alyson Hannigan) is the overweight and insecure daughter of a Greek/Indian/Japanese family. Her father (Eddie Griffin) wants her to marry someone from the same heritage, but she loves cute dimpled doctor Grant (Adam Campbell) with a cute English accent even though his parents are American. She gets help from date doctor Hitch (Tony Cox) but there is a crisis when Grant’s gorgeous ex-fiancee re-enters the picture. What will happen? Well, we’ll stumble through a lot of shout-outs to movies and celebrities on the way to finding out.

I feel a little bad about repeating myself here, but since it doesn’t seem to bother the people behind these things — or, as they say in the ads, “two of the six writers of Scary Movie — I don’t have any other options. As long as they keep making these movies I’m going to have to keep pointing out that SIMPLY REFERRING TO ANOTHER MOVIE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ACTUALLY MAKING A JOKE ABOUT IT. Sorry to shout, but now I feel so much better.

To be more specific: mere exaggeration does not count as a joke, no matter how big you make your Jennifer Lopez-equivalent’s fanny or how long the cat spends on the toilet or changing the name Focker to Fonckyerdoder. Referring to the fact that perhaps Britney Spears is not entirely satisfied with the marriage or that Michael Jackson is very interested in making friends with children is not the same thing as being funny. Making a parody of a parody does not make it exponentially funnier. Making fun of the fact that you are making fun of it doesn’t either. A joke requires perspective and insight. Most important, it requires something fresh and surprising. Not much of that here. And if it is not a crime to fail to take advantage of the comic talents of Alyson Hannigan, Fred Willard, and Jennifer Coolidge, it should be, and they should call out the comedy police here to arrest the “2 of the 6 writers of Scary Movie” for felony unfunniness.

Parents should know that this movie has a lot of very crude and disgusting humor and some strong language for a PG-13, including the n-word. There is comic violence, including shooting and punching, and sexual references and non-explicit situations.

Families who see this movie should talk about the movies it parodies and what assumptions it challenges. Why is it funny to make fun of movies we originally enjoyed?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Scary Movie (much raunchier material).