Mean Girls (2004)

MEAN GIRLS

***  (out of ****)

a film review by

Richard A. Zwelling

The good news is that Mean Girls, as a whole, is a recommendable

picture. The first half of the film is filled with corrosive satire

that dissects the modern-day jungle of public high school in America.

The bad news is that the film does not follow through on its satire,

and instead settles down into a formulaic resolution with a

conventional, risk-free happily-ever-after feel.

Don't let that stop you, however, because there are a couple of

reasons that Mean Girls is worth seeing. The first is the film's

premise, which is executed surprisingly well during the film's initial

half. Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) has been home schooled in South

Africa for most of her life. Now, she finds herself as a new student

at an Illinois public high school (the first time she has been in a

social school setting).

Being the naïve ingénue, she acts pleasantly towards everyone, fully

expecting reciprocity. Fat chance. After being repeatedly

embarrassed in a number of situations, Cady finds friendship with

misfits Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), who are

both accused of being gay (although only one of them actually is).

Enter the "Plastics", the popular, thin girls at the pinnacle of the

school's social stratification. Their leader is Regina (Rachel

MacAdams). No surprise, she is white, has a stunning figure, and is

blonde. The Plastics seem to curry favor with Cady, but it does not

take long for Cady to figure out their ulterior motives. Cady is,

after all, the new kid, and the new kid must be initiated.

But Janis and Damian cajole Cady into planning the Plastics'

demolition. The only question is, will Cady go along, surrendering

her "nice" ways? Well, obviously she does, otherwise the use of the

film's title is kind of pointless. Things are only complicated when

Cady develops a crush on Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), who used to

be Regina's boyfriend. You can see where things are headed.

The other reason for seeing this movie is the performances. Lindsay

Lohan is radiant and has a magnetic screen presence that deems her

instantly likable and identifiable as the main character that we know

to be a good person at heart. As Cady changes, as a result of her

revenge-laden antics, Lohan ups the degree of bitchiness, but somehow,

she does not sacrifice the essence of Cady (that of a good person

going along a bad path). When we see Cady become a bitch, we don't

hate her, but wish for her to go back to her old ways, and that is the

strength of Lohan's work.

Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Franzese are hilarious as Janis and Damian,

who provide a large amount of the film's more dry humor (there are

some great one-liners). Unfortunately, we learn much about them when

they first befriend Cady, and in the second half of the movie, they,

like the satire, fade into the background.

For the more low-key humor, the girls who play the Plastics (Rachel

MacAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried) are equally as funny.

There are many jokes you'd expect (e.g.--lines showing off their

ditziness, hollowness, and utter stupidity), but they also have the

chance to engage in light drama, and there are moments when the script

actually takes time to deepen each girl's character.

Obviously, the opportunity for carping satire here is endless, but the

film never takes the plunge and gets as down-and-dirty as it could.

There are some memorable moments, such as a sequence in which the

cafeteria is sociologically dissected according to social groups, or

the introduction of Regina's mother (Amy Poehler), who takes the

phrase "vicariously living through your children" to a despicable

degree.

In another sequence, the Plastics' code of attire is broken down and

discussed to such a fine degree of detail that it's impossible not to

sense the film mocking its superficiality.

Tina Fey, who penned the screenplay (based on Rosalind Wiseman's book

"Queen Bees and Wannabes"), has a part as Cady's math teacher, who

acts as the script's token mentor. She is Cady's conscience at

various moments throughout the story.

Unfortunately, it seems like Fey, in the end, became more concerned

with appealing to a mainstream audience instead of taking a chance and

providing some risky insight into the shortcomings, hypocrisies, and

general abhorrence of high school social life. While the ending may

provide a moral or two, and maybe even make us cheer or smile, there

is a sense of something left up in the air. It does not feel like

where the film initially wanted to take us.

However, in light of the fact that Mean Girls seems to have been

conceived as a mainstream prospect, it's nice to know that it offers

more than just a cheap laugh, one-dimensional characters, and trite

plotlines, even if it does cop out with a saccharine conclusion.

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X-RAMR-ID: 37751
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1279921
X-RT-TitleID: 1131931
X-RT-AuthorID: 7583
X-RT-RatingText: 3/4