"Drive Me Crazy" isn’t really a film nor movie of any particular sort. Although it passes itself off as a teen comedy cum star vehicle for Melissa Joan Hart, it actually resembles a commercial collage both in form and spirit. All genre movies are derivative to a certain extent, and while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, some spark of originality or innovation should be required to lift a product like this out from the "straight to video" category.

Here, the only originality or innovation that has been contrived is to refrain from calling the youth movie staple, the prom, by its name; instead, the big dance scene that closes this prefab piece of commercialism is called the "Centennial", conveniently tied to the school’s 100 year anniversary. Everyone would agree that this is lame to the point of tedium - and, unfortunately for the legions of Melissa Joan Hart fans out there, this more or less encapsulates what "Drive Me Crazy" is like.

Based on Todd Strasser’s novel, "How I Created My Perfect Prom Date", the screenplay by Rob Thomas hews closely to all the conventions of the teen movie. Nicole (Hart) is the peppy leader of the in-crowd at school who is longing to be asked to the Centennial dance by star basketball player Brad. When he unexpectedly breaks protocol and falls for a cheerleader from a rival school, she hatches a plan to use her ex-childhood friend/next-door-neighbor/school pariah Chase (Adrian Grenier), who’s just been dumped by his pretentious activist girlfriend Dulcie, to get both their respective partners back. What follows is a make-over scene, a montage where the leads realize that they’re meant for each other, a misunderstanding and a big reconciliation at the dance.

As directed by John Schultz, "Drive Me Crazy" adheres so closely to the conventions of the genre, and borrows so liberally from other, better-made films, that it becomes a tiresome and boring pastiche of scenes that don’t always make sense. Sure, there’s some attempt to give the characters some depth - Nicole’s father is painted as an irresponsible and absent parent, Chase’s mother died a painful death from cancer - but that does not change the fact that these are two of the most unlikely and unbelievable teenage sweethearts. There’s so little chemistry between Hart - who’s annoyingly perky no matter how hard she tries to emote - and Grenier - who was so much better in "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole - that the central storyline falls flat. Consequently, it’s up to the acidic and cynical friend Alicia (Susan May Pratt) to enliven things up. Pratt, who had a tiny role in the far, far superior "Ten Things I Hate About You" and calls to mind a teen version of the supremely talented Judy Davis, is the most accomplished actress of the cast, mostly because she manages to suggest a secret thought life for her character, whereas everyone else on screen seems to exist in a vacant, flat plane. Unfortunately, possibly worried that Hart and Grenier will be overshadowed, Pratt’s character is given such a contrary agenda and murky motivation that she comes across like three interesting characters collapsed into one confusing composite.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this product which was so desperate to lure the teenage buck that it not only retitled itself after an upcoming Britney Spears single but features the song twice during its running time. Crassly calculated to bilk unsuspecting audiences of their dollars, "Drive Me Crazy" is an unnecessary and painful to watch entry to the teen movie genre. Rent "Never Been Kissed" or the aforementioned "Ten Things I Hate About You" instead.

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