CLEMENTINE'S REVIEWS

9th June 2008
Mean Girls (2004)

Despite the positive reviews, I resisted seeing Mean Girls for quite
some time. The premise is very Heathers, which is a really fabulous,
seminal film for me, and yet I could not bring myself to see a movie
where Lindsay Lohan is Veronica and Rachel McAdams is red Heather.
Finally I brought myself around to seeing it after finding out Tina
Fey (30 Rock) wrote the screenplay and also has a lovely role in the
movie.

Down-to-earth, home-schooled Cady (Lohan) was brought up in Africa
where her parents were stationed. A change of tenure sees the whole
family making the move to America and subsequently Cady is now
enrolled in her local high school - her very first school experience.
She finds herself making friends with a forthright alternative girl
Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese). When the Plastics, the most powerful and popular clique of pretty girls, takes an interest in Cady, Janis urges her to join them and secretly report back their activities. Reluctantly, Cady agrees and she befriends the Plastics and starts to see the world of the popular yet vacuous crowd.

For the most part Lohan is a good actress. She conveys the confusion
of adolescence minus the over the top teen flick cheese. Apparently
she was initially slated to play head mean girl Regina but decided
she didn't want her personality mistaken as the same as the character. However the strong ensemble the is the real treat and I don't even care about the real ages of the 'teenagers' - Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried (originally cast as Cady) are hilarious in dumb side kick mode and Rachel McAdams is a standout as the Queen Bee - no wonder she won the role for the Notebook with her turn here as Regina George. Apparently 'only nice girls can play mean girls' according to the producer. McAdams' portrayal of Regina feels more human than the typical evil popular girl.

While the plot is quite the standard 'new blood in a harsh high school', Fey's smart and funny screenplay keeps the story fresh and entertaining. It never takes itself too seriously and Fey's fun quirkiness really makes this a comedy for more than the teen market.

You'll like this if: you like Fey's writing.

You'll probably not like this if: you don't like 30 Rock. But who would admit that? It's brilliant.

Read Alaris' review of Mean Girls (2004).