My Breasts Can Always Tell When It's Gonna Rain
 Jun 22nd, 2004
Advantages:
Funny, great performance from Lindsay Lohan, great writing from Tina Fey, better than most teen movies out recently, slightly darker comedy,
Disadvantages:
Quite formulaic, predictable .
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
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  BabyGirl
About me:
Member since:25.06.2001
Reviews:75
Members who trust:185
Review rated by 119 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
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Oh no not another Lindsay Lohan movie. Well yes I’m afraid so! On my last trip to the states I dragged my friends Molly and Laney to see “Mean Girls”, a movie I absolutely couldn’t wait to see. Lindsay is most associated with tween movies but this was actually a teen movie, well done to Lindsay for successfully making the transition. In the past few years there have been plenty of teen movies out there but they’ve either been too serious, or just not fun enough, “Mean girls” was right on the mark when it comes to fun teen movies. It shared a similar tone to “Bring it on” and “Clueless” which is most definitely a good thing considering they are my favourite teen movies. I was also glad to see a good cast, as that’s the one thing movies of this kind lack. I didn’t expect “Mean Girls” to get good reviews, hell I didn’t even expect it to get a lukewarm reception, but I was wrong as usual. “Mean girls” was a hit with critics. Shock horror. Thanks to great writing from Tina Fey and an excellent performance from Lindsay Lohan. What’s more the movie even did incredibly well at the box office raking in just over $80 million.
The movie begins here. Cady (pronounced Kay-dee) Heron has spent her life living in Africa amongst wild animals. But now her parents are moving to the US after her mother bagged a job at North western, which means no more home schooling for miss Heron. It’s time for a regular high school. Cady has no idea what to expect, as soon as she enters the school she is in for a shock. Teenagers are acting weirdly and adults don’t trust her. She has a hard time making friends and because everyone is in a clique she has nowhere to sit in the lunchroom. Cady is forced to eat lunch alone in the bathroom. Two non-popular outsiders give Cady (or Caddy as Janice refers to her as) a chance. The feisty Janis Ian and the “too gay to function” Damian. Cady realises the school is split up into many different cliques, and Janis and Damian encourage her to bring down the highest clique, the plastics. The plastics consist of the dumbest girl you will ever meet, Karen Smith, the popular gossip Gretchen Wieners, and last but not least the queen bee Regina George. They know everything
about everyone and play on other people’s misery. Cady has to enter their world but before she knows it she begins to have feelings for Regina’s ex boyfriend Aaron Samuels, but that is so wrong and against the rules of feminism according to Gretchen. This movie does contain quite a few high school stereotypes but its all done in good fun. Cliques play a very huge part of the movie, you’ve got to belong somewhere or you’re an outsider. As hard as it is to believe the movie does have a message. However a good thing about this film is that there is an array of different characters, you’ll relate to at least one. In a way “Mean girls” is very formulaic. You have the heroine, the bad girl, the eye candy and the recent addition to most teen movies, the camp sidekick. Having said that “Mean Girls” still manages to outshine most other movies made with a similar element.
I have always said Lindsay Lohan is a good actress in a sea of stupid teen girls thinking they’re the next big thing. Lindsay is a smart girl. Rather than sticking with sickly sweet family film’s she’s gone out and made a real teen movie, with a certificate of 12! Not only will this help her gain credibility but it’ll help her get a broader range of parts in the future. Lindsay has recently adopted a bad girl attitude and because of this I think Lindsay is going to last. One thing I liked about Lindsay in this movie was that she fitted in the role perfectly. She just seemed so natural on screen and you can tell with each role she’s getting better and better. Her role didn’t require her to play a silly teenager, but someone more intelligent than that and she did a great job. A good performance came from Rachel McAdams who seems to have mastered the bitch in high school role. I’ve seen her in a few other films and I do think she has potential to be even bigger. Most bad girls in teen movies don’t usually amount to much but I think McAdams may be an exception here because I do think she’s talented. Her fellow plastics Gretchen and Karen were perfectly played by Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried. I was really impressed with Chabert, who played a shallow bimbo, who couldn’t be more contrasting to Claudia in “Party of five”. Amanda Seyfried did a great job at just being plain stupid.
I was also really impressed with Lizzy Caplan’s performance as the sarcastic one, Janis. Some of things she said were just plain hilarious. Her one-liners made me giggle and I definitely thought she was one of the funniest characters in the movie. Her best friend Damian was slightly camp which made his character even funnier. I think most people will like his character because he just said such funny things. Even though she wasn’t in it for long Amy Poehler who played Regina’s mum made me laugh out loud. It was obvious where Regina’s evil traits originated. Her mother was unconventionally laid back, and tried to be in and hip with the girls but all she could do was embarrass her daughter. Definitely one of the funniest aspects of the movie for me personally. Plus it was shocking how Amy Poehler is only five years older than her onscreen daughter played by Rachel McAdams.
All teen movies have eye candy and “Mean Girls” was no exception. The object of Cady’s affection came in the form of new heartthrob on the block Jonathan Bennett. Unlike most mindless heartthrobs I thought Bennett played the part of Aaron Samuels really well, he was sweet, caring and slightly naïve. He didn’t seem dumb like most heartthrobs. Definitely a hottie to look out for in the future. Tina Fey, a writer and actress on the variety show Saturday night live was responsible for the script. One of the reasons I think this movie may appeal to a wider audience rather than just teenagers is because Tina Fey has made it funny on many different levels. Many people I know dismissed this as just another teen movie but it’s actually quite different to most teen movies, and in a funny way shows what cliques in high school’s are really like. Fey also appeared in the movie as Mrs. Norbury the slightly feminist Math teacher.
Mark Waters, the guy who directed “Freaky Friday” was responsible for directing “Mean Girls” and I think he did a great job. The movie shares it’s tone with “Freaky Friday” and that is definitely not a bad thing. Unlike “Freaky Friday” though, “Mean Girls” is more appealing to older teenagers, the tone is still kept fun but the comedy is slightly darker. Most teen movies rely on the same comedy and jokes, which is why “Mean Girls” is different. A few people have compared this to “Heathers” but I don’t see where that comparison has come from as I don’t think this film is anything like “Heathers” besides the two movies being slightly darker than there counterparts they share nothing else in common. One thing I have to mention is the amazing soundtrack. Right from the trailer I could tell this movie was going to have some truly brilliant songs featured in the movie. I was glad to see a teen movie not being stereotyped further with teenybopper music, such as a soundtrack featuring the likes of Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson. You can expect to hear songs such as Kelis’ track “Milkshake”, “Pass that Dutch” by Missy Elliot, “Naughty Girl” by Beyonce and “Overdrive” by Katy Rose. Unfortunately a soundtrack wasn’t officially released in stores, but you can download it on iTunes. I was impressed that a lot of songs were perfectly placed in the movie and created some memorable moments.
Overall I thought this film was great and I cannot wait to see it again. It’s definitely one for the DVD collection. It’s just fun, bright and light hearted. It’s definitely the kind of movie to put me in a good mood. I know most people were expecting this to be a really silly tween movie just because it starred Lindsay Lohan, but it is actually worth seeing. I think teenagers (who like teen movies) will love this film as its just fun, and has some pretty funny moments. I’m not sure if adults would find it as funny but it’s still worth a watch if you like fun light hearted comedy, which isn’t necessarily aimed at tween’s. I should give a warning that there is some sexual content in the movie, which wouldn’t be clear judging by the poster and trailer. CAST~~
Lindsay Lohan – Cady Heron
Rachel McAdams – Regina George
Lacey Chabert – Gretchen Wieners
Amanda Seyfried – Karen Smith
Lizzy Caplan – Janis Ian
Daniel Franzese – Damian
Jonathan Bennett – Aaron Samuels
Tiny Fey – Mrs. Norbury
Ana Gasteyer – Betsy Heron
Neil Flynn – Chip Heron
Amy Poehler – Mrs. George
Rajiv Surendra – Kevin Gnapoor DIRECTOR~~
Mark Waters CERTIFICATE~~
12A RUNTIME~~
97 mins (`*•.¸(`*•.¸¸.•*') ¸.•*')®
«°'¨`•.°BabyGirl°.•'¨`°»
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by (13%):
by (2%):
19.04.2009 22:36
Reading this review makes me want to go watch the film again :) x
17.11.2007 01:12
l have only ever seen LL in the new Herbie (love bug vw) film ~ not sure l was very impressed . . . . ~ ! ♥♥ ! ~ ........................................................... ~ jes ~ ! ♥♥ !
07.08.2007 11:24
Great review, heard a lot about this and you put me up to speed on it without having it watch it, i couldnt bear to watch anything with Lindsay Lohan in it! x