BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT looked like it had a sure winner with "BOYS AND GIRLS".  The theatrical trailer makes it appear to be a retooling of "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY", but developed exclusively for teens.  While that's not "original", it could've been fun.  We emphasize "could've"!  Sitting through "BOYS AND GIRLS", even at the brief running time of 94 minutes, seems more like punishment than entertainment. 

The opening credits introduce us, in a ridiculously contrived way, to the
younger versions of the lead characters who will  "mature" into Freddie
Prinze,Jr. and Claire Forlani.  This scene is telling, because it's impossible to like or care about the obnoxious characters, and here they're
only children!   It's supposed to display the extremely different
personalities of the characters.  The boy is book-wormish and snobby, the girl is extroverted enough to introduce herself to him, and in the same
sentence tell him she's had her first period.  What wonderful kids!   Within the first five minutes, the characters have "matured" into the main actors and run into each other again!  They're equally obnoxious and guess what? After they bump into each other again, and she realizes who he is she say's "I must've told that period on a plane story a million times!"  We've had to hear it twice in "five" minutes.  Pity anyone else who runs into her!   The film gets marginally better when we're introduced to Jason Biggs' character.
Biggs, made famous for his "pie sequence" in American Pie, is actually
entertaining here.  He plays the zany, mysterious college roommate of
Prinze.  He's not mysterious in "romantic" terms, but more in the manner of just plain "weird".  We're not even sure if he's made up his name!
Undoubtedly, younger adolescents will find something to enjoy about the
film, but no chance of an adult being able to tolerate it!   The single
biggest problem in it isn't even the horrible script, it's the lead actor!
Freddie Prinze, Jr. is totally wrong!  He's never believable in this role.
In fact, about 40 minutes into the film there's a scene lasting less than a
minute.  The scene has Forlani on a bad date  being rescued from it by
Prinze, Jr.  The credits reveal a "Matt Carmody" in the brief role as the
bad date.  This guy should've been the lead.  He revealed more charisma with a few lines than Prinze manages in the entire film!

The transfer from BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT is a different manner! It's great!  There is one brief scene where the fleshtones appear too red, but other than that, they're perfect!  Color values are solid, and there's terrific clarity.  The film has a nice production design to it and the vibrant colors and resolution make a mediocre film look splendid.  The locations in San Francisco look particularly incredible due to the transfer quality. The 1.85:1 aspect ratio is intact with 16:9 enhancement.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix is well produced. Although there's not an abundance of directional effects, the fact that the film's targeted to a teen audience means it's got plenty of pop songs and the sound mix really shines in these moments.  Not only does the music sound wonderful, but the film's sound design is impressive as well, with the dialogue maintaining perfect intelligibility in spite of various layers of atmospheric effects.  There are numerous trailers available on the "sneek peeks" section of the menu. Unfortunately, none are in dolby digital 5.1 and none are properly letterboxed.