Boys and Girls is a 2000 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Iscove. It stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Claire Forlani, Jason Biggs, and Amanda Detmer. The story follows Ryan (played by Prinze) and Jennifer (played by Forlani), who first meet as teenagers and later discover that their lives are connected by fate.

The screenplay for Boys and Girls, written by Andrew Lowrey and Andrew Miller, was bought by Miramax Films. Iscove and the main cast were added to the project soon after. Anna Friel was originally cast as Jennifer but left the role shortly before filming began because of "creative differences." She was replaced by Claire Forlani.

Miramax Films released Boys and Girls in U.S. theaters on June 16, 2000. Critics generally gave the film negative reviews, and it was not successful financially. It earned $25.8 million worldwide, which was less than its $30 million budget.

Plot

At age 12, Jennifer Burrows and Ryan Walker meet on an airplane and quickly have disagreements. Four years later, Ryan becomes the mascot for his high school in Los Angeles, while Jennifer is chosen as Homecoming Queen at her school. During a halftime ceremony between their schools, Ryan is chased by the rival mascot, causing him to lose his costume head. Later, Jennifer’s ceremonial car accidentally runs over the head. Jennifer later finds Ryan and tries to comfort him about the situation. They part ways again, realizing they are very different.

One year later, Ryan and Jennifer are students at UC Berkeley. Ryan is in a relationship with his high school girlfriend, Betty, while Jennifer lives with a musician. Ryan and Betty end their relationship after discovering they are not compatible. Ryan meets his roommate, Hunter, whose real name is Steve, a man who claims to be good with women but has many failed attempts at attracting them.

Jennifer moves in with her best friend, Amy, after breaking up with her boyfriend. Ryan and Amy begin dating, and he renews his friendship with Jennifer, even after Amy ends their relationship. They take walks, support each other during breakups, and gradually become close friends. Jennifer encourages Ryan to date again, and he begins seeing a girl named Megan.

One night, while feeling skeptical about love, Jennifer becomes emotional, and Ryan tries to comfort her. To their surprise, they become intimate. Ryan ends his relationship with Megan. Jennifer, afraid of commitment, says the encounter was a mistake and suggests they pretend it never happened. Hurt, Ryan stops contacting Jennifer and focuses on his studies.

Months later, Jennifer graduates and prepares to travel to Italy. She meets Ryan at a hilltop overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, where they had spent time together before. Ryan confesses his feelings, but Jennifer says she does not feel the same. He wishes her well and leaves.

On the shuttle to the airport, Jennifer passes the hilltop and realizes she wants to be with Ryan. She returns to her apartment and finds Amy, who is getting ready to greet her. Steve exits Amy’s bedroom and tells Jennifer that Ryan is returning to Los Angeles by plane.

While waiting for his flight, Ryan hears Jennifer confess her love for him in Latin. After some discussion and despite a flight attendant’s warnings, they rekindle their relationship on an airplane, just as they first met.

Production

In April 1999, Miramax Films bought a screenplay written by Andrew Lowery and Andrew Miller, two actors who began writing together. Robert Iscove agreed to direct, joining forces again with the director and star of She's All That. Iscove explained that Jonathon Rhys Meyers (Prinze) wanted to move away from his image as a good-looking actor and grow as an artist by playing a geek. Prinze said, "Most people don’t give me a chance to play a role different from the good-looking guy. But I enjoy trying new things and wanted to take on the challenge of playing a geek."

Prinze also mentioned, "When I made She's All That, I aimed to create three movies for a specific group of people. I did She's All That, Down to You, and Boys and Girls. Now, I’ve finished high school and college for a while."

Anna Friel was first chosen to be the female lead, but she left the project shortly before filming began due to reported "creative differences" and was replaced by Claire Forlani. Some sources said Friel quit, while others claimed she was fired because she disagreed with the script.

The film includes a dance scene similar to one in She's All That, where everyone dances to the song "Stop the Rock" by Apollo 440. Forlani shared that she received very little time to prepare for the dance, saying, "They pulled me into a room with 30 dancers who had practiced for two days. I had to learn the routine in half an hour, and it was very complicated. I felt nervous, but Freddie [Prinze] said, 'I can do it.' I replied, 'Well, that’s because you’re not meant to get it right.'"

Jason Biggs joined the film after his famous role in American Pie. This was the first movie in a two-film agreement he had with Miramax.

Prinze noted that Harvey Weinstein, a Miramax executive, wanted to add a sword fight to She's All That and to this film. He said, "We received a message from Harvey saying they wanted a sword fight in Boys and Girls, which didn’t make sense because the movie was set in modern times, and Jason Biggs played an architecture student. These were the strange suggestions studios made back then. I don’t understand how Miramax directors didn’t all become very frustrated."

Reception

The movie Boys and Girls earned $21.8 million in the United States and $4 million in other countries, for a total worldwide earnings of $25.8 million.

In the United States, Boys and Girls was released at the same time as Shaft and Titan A.E.. It earned $7 million during its first weekend, placing sixth in the box office rankings. In its second weekend, the film fell to tenth place, earning $3.2 million, which was a 53.9% decrease from its first weekend earnings.

The film received mostly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a score of 11% based on 63 critics, with an average rating of 3.9 out of 10. The site’s critics said, “Boys and Girls feels like an unoriginal copy of When Harry Met Sally. The boring and unoriginal story fails to engage.” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 29 out of 100 based on 26 critics, which means the reviews were generally unfavorable.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 14, 2000, by Dimension Home Video. In 2005, Disney sold Dimension, and in 2010, Disney sold Miramax, which was the parent company of Dimension. That same year, Filmyard Holdings, a private company, took over Miramax and the rights to Dimension’s films released before October 2005. Filmyard temporarily allowed Lionsgate to use the home video rights for some Dimension and Miramax movies. On January 6, 2012, Lionsgate released the film Boys and Girls on DVD again.

In March 2016, Filmyard sold Miramax and Dimension’s pre-October 2005 films to beIN Media Group, a company based in Qatar. In April 2020, ViacomCBS (now called Paramount Skydance) bought the rights to Miramax’s films and Dimension’s pre-October 2005 films after purchasing a 49% ownership share in Miramax from beIN. On February 23, 2021, Paramount Home Entertainment released the film on DVD with new artwork. This was one of several Dimension and Miramax films that Paramount reissued. Paramount also made the film available on its streaming service, Paramount+. To date, the film has not been released on Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD.