Head Over Heels (2001)

China Chow is Monica Potter’s gay best friend in director Mark Water’s (MEAN GIRLS, FREAKY FRIDAY) 2001 romantic comedy HEAD OVER HEELS.

HEAD OVER HEELS

2001. USA.

 Director: Mark Waters

Screenplay: David Kidd & Ron Burch

 Starring: Monica Potter, Freddie Prinze Jr., China Chow, Sarah O'Hare, Shalom Harlow, Ivana Miličević and Tomiko Fraser

The film follows Amanda (Potter), a painting conservator at The Met in New York, who is forced to move in with her lesbian best friend Lisa (Chow) after she finds her boyfriend cheating on her. Lisa seems to want more than friendship, so Amanda finds a room for rent in a spacious apartment with a group of quirky models. Shortly after getting settled she begins to fall for Jim (Freddie Prinze Jr.), a handsome man in a neighboring building. Unfortunately, she finds herself in a Hitchcockian “Rear Window” scenario where he is the main suspect.

An interesting aspect of HEAD OVER HEELS is how the film depicts its queer female characters. As you can guess, there are problematic elements here because Lisa is briefly depicted as a bit predatory (an old and tired trope, even in 2001) – and queer intimacy is avoided, probably to ensure a lower PG-13 rating.

It’s a romantic comedy, so you can guess how it ends for Potter and Prinze. But, surprisingly, the lesbian best friend also gets a happy ending! Despite having a rough start, she ends up moving in with the models and beginning a relationship with one of them. At the end of the film they talk about spending a weekend together at a lesbian event in Palm Springs – though, instead of sharing a kiss they share in a weird shoulder squeeze. Oh, the early 2000s …

HEAD OVER HEELS opened to generally unfavorable reviews and tanked at the box office in 2001. Despite some of the issues, this one is worth revisiting – but mainly for the model characters, they steal every scene they’re in.

HEAD OVER HEELS is available streaming through Fubo (Canada/USA) and also available on DVD.