As far as teen comedies go,
‘Mean Girls’ looks pretty nice
Blake Hinton / Reviewer
The teen film satire genre seems to be pretty dead these
days. The last really good one was the pitch-black dark
comedy “Heathers” that provided some pointed
satire about high school society.
While the movie isn’t nearly as incisive or dark as
“Heathers” the new film “Mean Girls”
is both a step-up in that department and one of the more
wittier high school films to come along in a while.
The film essentially follows the trials and tribulations of
Cady (Lindsay Lohan) trying to integrate herself into a new
high school environment. Up until this time she had been
living in Africa being home-schooled, therefore, she is very
much a fish out of water.
On her first day of class she meets The Plastics. The
Plastics are a group of three girls who essentially run the
school.
The leader of the group is a girl named Regina (Rachel
McAdams). After Regina destroys Cady’s chances with a
boy, Cady decides to become a Plastic and unleash her sneaky
revenge from the inside.
Of course, things escalate into war by the climax. In the
end, Cady has to choose who she really is: a Plastic clone or
herself.
The movie’s female empowerment message certainly
isn’t original nor is the formulaic turns the film
takes.
Also, by the end of the film one can apply it’s
ultimate message to just about any other teen female comedy
that has come out over the past few years.
Yet, where this movie differs and makes its mark is in its
very witty and smart script. The screenplay was written by
Tina Fey of Saturday Night Live fame who also stars as a dour
and divorced math teacher. This is her first screenplay, and
one can only hope that she does more as she proves to be very
adept here.
Unlike just about every other SNL comedy that has come out
after “Wayne’s World,” this film does not
rely on a one-joke premise or silly gags.
There certainly are some funny set pieces, but the script as
a whole is far smarter than say something like “The
Ladies Man” or “A Night At The Roxbury.”
The high school represented in the film is a far more real
high school than has been shown in a lot of recent teen
films.
Of course, the film does have the teen film staples, most
notably the importance of prom. Yet, the constantly incisive
and smart dialogue separate it. The view the film takes on
cliques in high school is dead-on.
Lindsay Lohan in the title role also acquits herself quite
well. Lohan is one of a group of rising teen actors that
actually have a defined screen presence; Hilary Duff is not
one of them.
Lohan is charming in the leading role here, although she
should be careful before she gets stuck in the same teen film
over and over. Rachel McAdams also does a great job as the
evil Regina.
It should be noted that the director of this film, Mark S.
Waters, also did “Freaky Friday.” That was one of
the best and most surprising teen comedies of the last few
years. With that and “Mean Girls” under his belt
Waters is starting to look like the savior of teen comedies.
In the end, it would be hard to call this a great film
compared with some other movies out there. If you want to see
a great film go see “Eternal Sunshine.”
Yet, for teen comedies this is a surprisingly clever film,
almost as good as “The Girl Next Door.”
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