Melissa Joan Hart & Adrian Grenier’s ‘Drive Me Crazy’ Is So Much Better Than It Gets Credit For

The teen movie genre flourished in the late ’90s and early 00s. Adolescent drama was in vogue as a young audience who didn’t wanna wait for their lives to be over flocked to the theater to watch Heath Ledger serenade Julia Stiles and find out once and for all if Laney Boggs was a bet (was she a f*cking bet?!). But one film that’s gotten lost in the culture shuffle is the 1999 teen rom-com Drive Me Crazy, which, lucky for you, is now streaming on Hulu.

Starring the winsome duo of Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier, Drive Me Crazy tells the familiar story of two heartbroken high school students who pretend to be a couple in an attempt to trick the people they actually like into loving them. The film is probably best remembered for its association with the Britney Spears head-bopper “(You Drive Me) Crazy,” which is an unironically good song that deserves your respect. Speaking of respect, pitch-perfect segues, and admittedly amateur-hour double entendres, you want to know what drives me crazy? The lack of historical reverence for this movie!

Drive Me Crazy currently has a 28% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Somebody get Fiona Apple on the phone, because that, my fellow Melissa Joan Hart-Throbs, is borderline criminal. I’m not suggesting Drive Me Crazy deserves to be on the list of all-time greatest movies next to Citizen Kane or Sweet Home Alabama, all I’m saying is that it’s a fun, utterly enjoyable teen film. Hart, Grenier, and the rest of the movie’s entourage exude charm, it possesses some surprisingly sharp dialogue (the screenplay was penned by the non-musical Rob Thomas of Veronica Mars/Party Down fame), and the film boasts a killer soundtrack. Drive Me Crazy doesn’t reinvent the cinematic wheel, but there’s nothing wrong with a little paint-by-numbers whimsy every once in a while.

Drive Me Crazy is so intrinsically ’90s that you’ll instinctively reach for your Giga Pet before popping in a Warhead and settling down to read the newest Goosebumps book. But unlike R.L. Stine’s spooky seminal classics, viewers won’t be in for a scare… unless of course you’re frightened by heaps of frothy adolescent enchantment.

Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier radiate chemistry in this movie. For many actors, starring in a buzzy teen rom-com would be a career-defining role, but these two are obviously known for their performances in various high-profile Hollywood projects. Hart is best remembered for her portrayal of Rose DeMarco in the 2014 Lifetime Christmas caper Santa Con, while Grenier is known for his memorable performance as Pablo Escobar in Billy Walsh’s historical bio-pic Medellin.

These two bewitching actors are pitch perfect in Drive Me Crazy. Honestly, there’s no need for me to describe it to you in words. Their on-screen chemistry explains it all.

Drive Me Crazy has everything you could possibly want from a ’90s teen rom-com. It hasn’t quite morphed into a cult favorite but it has cast a spell on many a viewer. If you’re running on E after a long workweek, avoid the drama of going out and relax with this light, underrated ’90s favorite.

Should you take a chance and watch Drive Me Crazy on Hulu? Oh yeah. Stream it today on Hulu.

Where to stream Drive Me Crazy