"Everybody has a secret … Duke wants Olivia who likes Sebastian who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she hates Olivia who's with Duke to make Sebastian jealous who is really Viola who's crushing on Duke who thinks she's a guy …"

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, who are all these people and what kind of sick and twisted thing is going on here? Don't worry, this is just the tagline for the new teen romantic comedy "She's the Man," starring Amanda Bynes. Although it may sound confusing, no one is as confused as Bynes' character Viola who plays the role of a male for the majority of the film.

If this sounds familiar it's because Joyce Hyser played a similar character back in 1985. In "Just One of the Guys," she played a girl named Terri who, after feeling cheated out of a journalism internship for being a girl, enrolls in another high school to try to win the contest there.

Go back a few more centuries and one can find where the inspiration for these films really originated. William Shakespeare wrote "Twelfth Night," one of his many comedies in the early 1600s. In it, Shakespeare depicts a love triangle that has developed between six acquaintances that eventually results in the happy union of three couples.

A project like "She's the Man" can be botched easily if it is not entered into carefully, but screenwriters Karen McCulluh Lutz and Kristen Smith bring with them previous experience in adapting a Shakespeare to modern day cinema. Besides writing the screenplay for "Legally Blonde," they were the writers for the popular teen romantic comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), which is a modern day take on "The Taming of the Shrew". McCulluh Lutz, Smith and their co-writer Ewan Leslie stay surprisingly true to the essence of Shakespeare's original — even the original character names are kept intact.

In the 2006 version, Viola's problems begin when her high school decides to cut the women's soccer team. When the male team's sexist pig of a coach won't even let the girls try out for his team, all seems hopeless. Despite her mother's attempts to turn Viola's attention toward the upcoming debutante ball, she is devastated.

That is, until her twin brother decides to leave town for two weeks just as he is about to enter a brand new school. Viola sees his departure as the perfect opportunity for a chance to play soccer again and beat the team that rejected her. However, despite the many characteristics she shares with her brother, there are some very important and obvious ones that she does not.

Some things she just can't change, but for those she can, she enlists the help of her good friend and stylist, Justin. One shaggy wig, paste on sideburns and heavy-duty ace bandage later, Viola is walking into the boys dormitory renamed as Sebastian. But it's Hollywood, and things are rarely ever easy. Of course her roommate Duke (Channing Tatum, "Coach Carter") is gorgeous and popular, nicely juxtaposing Sebastian's scrawny build and high, squeaky voice that brand him a loser.

While Sebastian is not making much headway with the guys at school, the girls are an entirely different story. Sebastian's sensitivity to women is unnerving and naturally, as a man, Viola easily forms friendships with the girls. When Duke and the other guys see Sebastian's way with the ladies, their attitudes quickly change.

Soon guys want Sebastian to hook them up with girls and girls want to hook up with Sebastian. The web that continues to form gets messier and more tangled as the 12 days before the big soccer game fly by. What ensues will make viewers both laugh and cringe as Viola tries to keep up her disguise.

As far as romantic comedies go, this is very suitable for teenagers and will even get college students laughing out loud at some of the stuff that is pulled in this movie.

Although the physical appearance of actors is what often draws young people to movies, what ultimately makes "She's the Man" worth seeing is Amanda Bynes' performance.

Compared to Bynes' outlandish and hilarious attempts at portraying a guy, Joyce Hyser's character Terri seems incredibly tame. Bynes delivers facial expressions that are exaggerated and hysterical. Her ability to go above and beyond what anyone would expect is applaudable and make the movie all that it can be.

4 stars