MEAN GIRLS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
It's a jungle out there, and Cady -- pronounced "Katy" not "Catty" -- Heron
should know. Recently arrived in America after living in Africa with her
research zoologist parents, Cady finds out on her very first day in school that
students can be just like wild animals. But Cady isn't entering kindergarten;
she is a very smart junior in high school, having previously been homeschooled
in the bush by her mother.
MEAN GIRLS stars the popular Lindsay Lohan, now a 17-year-old who has had two
big hits (FREAKY FRIDAY and the remake of THE PARENT TRAP) and one surprising
miss (CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN). Paired again with FREAKY FRIDAY's
director, Mark S. Waters, she dazzles us once more. Tina's Fey's smartly
written script, based on Rosalind Wiseman's novel, "Queen Bees and Wannabes,"
is a perfect match for Lohan's intelligent brand of comedy. The formula film
finds a long series of fresh ways to develop classic teen comedy setups. A
PG-13 comedy that's just raunchy and real enough to draw in teen audiences, it
isn't much past a PG film so tweens should be able to enjoy it too. With
plenty of good messages along with the good jokes, it is also a film that
parents will be happy to go to or to see their kids go to without them.
Cady immediately bonds with two of the school's outcasts, Janis (Lizzy Caplan),
a Goth girl who is ridiculed as a lesbian, but isn't, and Damian (Daniel
Franzese), a gay guy who proudly left the closet years ago. The social leader
of their class is a take-no-prisoners queen bee named Regina (Rachel McAdams),
who is always accompanied by her two bitches-in-waiting, Gretchen (Lacey
Chabert) and Karen (Amanda Seyfried). Karen is the dumb-as-a-stone blonde who
claims to have "ESPN," bragging that her boobs can predict rain. Well, they
can if it is currently raining and she is outside. Regina reigns supreme by
cutting down everyone else.
The plot has Janis, who has been hurt more than once, convincing Cady to go
deep undercover as a "Plastic," the derogatory name for Regina's group of
little bitches. Cady is supposed to find dirt on Regina and use it against
her. As an undercover narc will admit, entering a scene can change you. Soon
Cady becomes less and less like her old friends and more and more like her evil
new ones. In some of the movie's more original moments, the students start
acting out the same animal behaviors that Cady once observed in the wild out on
the savanna. The fountain in the local mall, for example, is transformed into
an animal watering hole.
The ending may seem a little too pat and cute, but it is done imaginatively and
convincingly. MEAN GIRLS reminds us in a positive way of the crucial
importance of a good script, even in just a little teen comedy.
MEAN GIRLS runs 1:35. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content, language and some
teen partying" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 15, gave it ***, commenting on how cute, sweet and funny it
was. He found the plot predictable but interesting. He remarked several times
on how hot Lohan was.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, April 30, 2004. In
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?
Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
==========
X-RAMR-ID: 37657
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1275643
X-RT-TitleID: 1131931
X-RT-SourceID: 703
X-RT-AuthorID: 1271
X-RT-RatingText: 3/4
NOTE: This review was posted on the usenet
to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup.
Mooviees.com accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review.
Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Movie Database
In Theaters
