Mean Girls DVD > Reviews > Girls on Film

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Sharp, satirical and silly
Disadvantages:	A little too lightweight for some

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As everyone who has ever attended school knows teenage girls are possibly the most vicious creatures on this earth, unfortunately for Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) she’s never been to school before. Mean Girls tells the story of Cady (pronounced like Katie) who after a childhood being home schooled in Africa, enters the school system for the first time at an over ripe seventeen. Cady, clueless at first, is quickly embraced by both the unconventional Janice (Lizzie Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese) and the ‘Plastics’ the most popular (and therefore evil) girls in school. Persuaded by Janice to infiltrate the Plastics in order to bring them down from the inside, Cady embarks on a sabotage mission that leaves her in danger of becoming a little cold, hard and shiny herself as the reality of being beautiful, popular and feared becomes all too appealing.

So far so predictable, but thankfully ‘Mean Girls’ doesn’t have to rely on its rather flimsy plot (including a dreamy but ineffectual boy to compete over) in order to reach the very top of this particular genre. Adapted from Rosalind Wiseman’s book ‘Queen Bees and Wannabes’ by ‘Saturday Night Live’ regular Tina Fey the film’s script is sharp yet heart warming, intelligent yet juvenile and just downright funny. There is rarely a scene that won’t have you laughing out loud and from comedy pratfalls to brilliant satire it really does contain something that will tickle everyone’s funny bone. On a higher level Fey mounts a successful attack on the pop culture sexualising of American young women. Alpha Plastic Regina’s younger sister lifting her shirt up whilst watching MTV and dancing to the provocative ‘Milkshake’ (a song about giving hand jobs) seem at least two scenes there for more than just for a cheap laugh, and by the time Cady and the Plastics perform in their PVC Santa outfits I was heard to proclaim “they are such sluts” to the bewildered cinema audience. Cady’s downward spiral from intelligent, independent young girl into vapid whore is an engaging emotional arc which speaks volumes about the pressure on teenagers to conform.

On the more basic and perhaps audience pleasing level the jokes come thick and fast and are supported by an ensemble cast delivering wonderful comic performances. The token ‘actress in her late twenties playing a teenager’ is the 28 year old Rachel McAdams (playing 17 year old Regina George) who fortunately for us has escaped from Rob Schneider’s overacting (his manic mincing in ‘The Hot Chick’ shamelessly drowned out McAdams’ great comedy performance) and shines as a girl so narcissistic and desperate she’s practically insane. The other two Plastics Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried are both fantastic and consistently funny, Chabert’s love/hate relationship with McAdams’ character being a highlight. Lindsay Lohan is warm and witty in equal measures and as the narrator and emotional core of the film satisfies totally (on a more lowbrow level I’m a straight woman and even I found her breasts near hypnotic). The adults in the film are equally impressive Fey herself, Tim Meadows and Amy Poehler (only five years older than her on screen daughter McAdams) all deserve huge amounts of credit, Poehler’s ‘cool Mom’ is particularly grotesque. Even in an ensemble cast though, there is always a star and in ‘Mean Girls’ case it’s undoubtedly Daniel Franzese as Damien. Dubbed by his best friend Janice as ‘almost too gay to function’, thanks to Franzese, Damien is not a big camp stereotype. He gets all the best lines and delivers them impeccably (“Danny Devito, I love your work”) and manages to make a performance of ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera one of the funniest and most endearing scenes ever to grace a teen comedy.

On the production side of things there is nothing to disappoint the film’s target audience the whole film is bright and choppy enough to keep the interest of even the most ADD addled member of the MTV generation. The costumes are colourful and no doubt represent aspirational living for the teenagers in the audience, but are also subtly mocked for the adults. Cady’s proclamation when wearing a particularly slutty dress that at least this time her dreamboat won’t catch her in a ridiculous costume is very funny in context. It’s a joke is representative of how the entire film is handled, Director Mark S. Waters (back working with Lohan after his hugely sucessful 'Freaky Friday' update) knows just how to appeal to both types of audience members without offending either and never dumbs the script down or rams the jokes down your throat, so much so that sometimes you want to nudge the person next to you to check they got it too.

This film obviously owes a huge debt to its darker predecessor ‘Heathers’ (brilliantly acknowledged in a ‘lunchtime poll’ homage) but has been attacked for abandoning its early bite in favour of a happy ending. It’s a totally unfair criticism when you consider the market this film is aimed at, no one slates ‘The Breakfast Club’, ‘Pretty in Pink’ or ‘Clueless’ for having happy endings and even Christian Slater doesn’t succeed in blowing up Westerburg High. Personally I was perfectly satisfied with the film’s resolution and couldn’t really ever see it as ending any other way. Despite being a higher class of teen comedy, it’s still a teen comedy and it’s not fair to attack it on that basis. I went into ‘Mean Girls’ expecting nothing and was blown away by what is near perfect slice of cinematic enjoyment. Perhaps it won’t win any Oscars, maybe it’s not going to change the world or go down in cinema history, but I know I’ll still be watching (and enjoying) it in years to come and I hope its positive and mildly feminist message isn’t lost on the teenagers that I have no doubt will love it.

Unlike other brilliant but more obviously unconventional high school comedies like ‘Election’ and ‘Ghost World’, ‘Mean Girls’ plays to the widest audience possible and succeeds in satisfying everyone – no mean feat.