I arrived at the premiere impressed with the string of limos, glitzy young actors, rows of photographers, bright lights and of course the lines of adoring fans: cheering, oowing, in some cases crying with excitement.

Making my way across the red carpet and into Hollywood's awesome Chinese Theater, I found a seat amidst the thrilled teens that promptly applauded as the film began to roll.

A group of jaded high school seniors meet at a cement factory to initiate a potential clique member. Night, at the parked cars, a single handheld camera in a single shot captures the mood of the small crowd well as the daft teens carry out their asinine stunt which results in a near tragedy. Though well-filmed (the sidestepping camera makes you feel like one of the crowd), the incident serves but one purpose (could have been more) to introduce Shane as a reckless, superficial character ... with an inkling (maybe) of heart.

Into this cooler-than-thou group strides bible-thumping, daughter-of-a-preacher, good-hearted Mandy. Shane, sentenced to community service and to participate in the school play (principal felt he needed to "experience new people"), rubs shoulders with Mandy often enough for her to warn him, "You must promise not to fall in love with me." This odd friendship makes for an entertaining film and catalyst for viewers to reconsider their own value systems.

Some highlights: Though a very short scene: Shane is doing his unenthusiastic best to help a freshman with math, when the frustrated kid slams the book and bolts out, "I think this is bullsh*t." Shane rolls his eyes and mutters to himself, "That makes two of us." Topping that, Shane just as unenthusiastically auditions for the school play. Taller, handsome, and way-too-cool, amidst the green thespians, he nonetheless reads his lines (as a prisoner carries rocks) and somehow it not only works, but sparkles. Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention Mandy's solo performance during the first night of the show. The filmmaker's take their time, letting Mandy sing her ballad at length - sweet, gentle and buoyant.

Though strong enough for the most part and entertaining, the initial thrust of the picture rounds nicely full circle at the hour fifteen mark, relaxes in a longer than usual resolution, then goes abruptly tangent. It's as if another story were tacked on the end, complete with its own complications, climax and resolution. Younger viewers will no doubt have more patience for the second conflict, but unfortunately, those over twenty-five or so, would have seen this twist too many times prior to fully appreciate it here. Additionally, many pacing problems surface (after resolution 1) as the film slows and speeds up inconstantly. Especially noticeable, an emotional scene involving Shane and his father plays too soon, I suspect many scenes building to it were cut. However, with the film running longer than appropriate for itself, the decision to cut was a must. One other small technical pop, some audio is muffled especially in the bus scene.

That said, I enjoyed the first half just fine. Mandy handles the screen well, confident, minimal with a little spice, sweet voice, and cute as a button. Shane West has no problem carrying his part, sort of a Matthew Perry with a chip on his shoulder. I'm always up for a film about the salvageable bad boy falling for the relentless believer in good.