Mean Girls Review
by Richard A. Zwelling (razwee AT yahoo DOT com)May 11th, 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.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
