The story is utterly hackneyed and predictable what with Alvin being first an object of scorn, then - after some utterly unconvincing ghetto-`Pygmalion' makeover scenes - finding acceptance in the upper echelon of with-it kids, while at the same time turning his back on and rejecting the fellow nerds who used to be his friends.
The stereotypes of adolescents that the film presents weren't fresh twenty years ago and they're even less so today. His hope is that, through his association with her, he will gain entree into the `cool' crowd at school.
`Love Don't Cost a Thing' is a pointless update of `Can't Buy Me Love,' the tale of a high school nerd who hires the hottest babe on campus to pretend to be his girlfriend. You know Hollywood's hard up for material when it starts blowing the dust off movies from as recent as the 1980's to rehash and remake (films that weren't any good to begin with, I might add). Starring: Nick Cannon, Christina Milian, Steve Harvey, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Russell W. Love Don't Cost a Thing could've spawned a tiresome plod through the clichés and the conventions of the high school caste system, yet the film occupies a more stern level of restrictions and poignancy than one could tell from the film's poster (which has such a blatantly corny subtext to the film's title) and its trailer. I would've been content with seeing more of Alvin's friends, who are portrayed by Russell W. Cannon and Milian are likable leads, and Harvey provides some fun for the supporting role position. It is practically inevitable that he will become virtually consumed with this popularity that will lead him to his brief glory days then his predicted downfall. Alvin, who just so happens to be working there when she brings it in, offers to pay $1500 for the parts the car needs, fix it in a few days, in exchange that Paris pretends to be his girlfriend for two months (which gets subtracted into two weeks). When Paris crashes her mother's luxurious SUV after an argument with her boyfriend, she takes it into the shop, where she is told that it would take an estimated two weeks and $3000 for repair. His parents (Steve Harvey and Vanessa Bell Calloway) couldn't be more proud of him, but his father has always wanted Alvin to have the popularity and experiences he had as a kid. She catches the eye of almost every student there, but the one we focus on is Alvin Johnson (Nick Cannon), an intelligent, yet geeky soul who is breathlessly trying to get a General Motors scholarship he has been working hard for for as long as he can remember. Paris, played by Christina Milian, is high-maintenance and carries a reputation the size of the entire high school. It knows the teen culture, and doesn't pretend to connect with it. Work to stay in." This is pin-point accuracy, and what sets the film apart from another cliché story in the shuffle. She continues by saying, "It's nothing but work and worries. "Popularity is a job, it's not a privilege," says Paris Morgan, an undeniably attractive high school student who serves as the main love interest in Troy Byer Bailey's Love Don't Cost a Thing. I recommend this solely to people who watch all they can get near of this genre of *sigh* movie. The plot slowly unfolds between this cast of caricatures, with nigh a single surprise along the way. Stooping to the lowest common denominator seldom looks *quite* this ugly. The "humor" is forced and tries way too hard. The barrier between the popular kids and the ones not considered "cool" is ridiculously excessive in this, and you find yourself not believing that much of anything that occurs in this could happen in any conceivable universe. Nobody gets through with their dignity intact. This is a predictable, tasteless, embarrassing excuse for a romantic teen sex romp.
It's just that the potency of the "suck" overpowers what relatively little of this that doesn't blow. I honestly don't know if Milian can act, since no one in this appear to have even a smidgen of a hint of talent in the craft, and it may, at least partially, be related to the direction. Maybe it was a bad idea to hire some actress to write and helm a flick. Beyond all else, I feel a great deal of sympathy for everyone who had anything to do with this, and anyone who has tried to fix their eyes upon a screen that was showing it. I have not had any exposure to the original, though there is no doubt in my mind that it is superior, simply because the opposite would not seem possible.