Mean Girls

Ever made fun of somebody behind their back? Ever had it happen to you? Then maybe you should take a look an Mean Girls.

Mean Girls gives an insight into the girl-eat-girl world of high school cliques and teenage popularity. Lindsay Lohan plays Cady Heron who, after fifteen years of home schooling, begins her first day of regular high school. Heron has spent her formative years living in Africa as her parents are researchers, but Cady is thrust back into the real world after her mother takes up a position at Northwestern University and now it's time to start socialising. However all that time in the bush haven't been the best for her social skills; in fact Cady doesn't know what a hottie is or whether Ashton Kutcher is a band. This new world she has entered is just as intimidating as the jungle, full of wild beasts in the form of jocks and band geeks with a social hierarchy that is as complex as a strand of DNA.

You can pretty much guess where this one is going: new girl comes to town, girl joins clique, becomes a stuck up tramp before eventually becoming a better person. Hey Presto you'd be right there but the difference with Mean Girls is that the film is so well put together that you forgive it for its structural inferiorities. The movie takes off when Cady falls in with two other social outcasts, Janis and Damian, who fill her in on the law of the land and how to get by in high school. Whilst ditching class they give the low-down on the Plastics, the Diana Ross and the Supremes of the playground as it were but even they put Diana Ross' diva-like antics to shame! The Plastics are composed of three members: Regina George, Gretchen Weiners and Karen Smith. Regina George is the Queen Bee of the high school and heaven forgive all those that cross her, the other two girls are her lackeys and together they form the most powerful group in the teenage social scene. After a chance encounter Cady is befriended by the Plastics and invited to join them for lunch for the rest of the week. What starts out as a joke by Janis to find out what they talk about quickly turns into a plan to sabotage the Plastics and bring down Regina's evil reign.

Mean Girls is a feel good movie, it accomplishes everything it sets out to do and despite being unoriginal or immature in points its light-heartedness wins it over. Like its seventeen year old star, the movie is fresh faced and unassuming which is highly contrastable with a lot of the other offerings from Hollywood this year. The storyline isn't original but you'll be too busy laughing to pay any notice as the film is full of charm and you can't help but fall for it. The film starts out like the teenage guide to popularity and ends up turning into a moral story about how women should treat each other, but the cast are as innocent and naïve as the storyline and that is what adds sincerity to the film. The script was written by Saturday Night Live scribe Tina Fey and as a result Mean Girls is so quick-witted that it moves swifter than teenager's taste in music. It is amazing how easy it is, even as a guy, to relate to this movie; we all have a set of Plastics in our lives and the fact that the teenage social scene is so accurately portrayed means there is something for everyone to enjoy. Fey picks up on all the social nuances and plays upon them, so that it doesn't matter what age you are to find this movie funny - whether it is extreme social suicide or slapstick comedy, you'll be wetting yourself with laughter for most of this movie.

If you're going to be popular you'd better have the right clothes, listen to the latest jams and be down with all the street lingo (I can pretty much say that I've discounted myself out of the popularity stakes with that sentence!) In this respect Mean Girls is packed full of style, block rockin' beats and a dictionary might even come in handy at times. With Lindsey Lohan the movie has the rising star of tomorrow whose career continues to grow and grow. This performance has eclipsed her breakthrough in Freaky Friday and her hosting the MTV Movie Awards only cements her current popularity. The film also boasts a fantastic soundtrack including some solo material from Linda Perry, ex Four Non Blondes lead singer and the writer of a lot of Pink's recent hits. The music is wonderfully blended into the movie and plays like the top forty countdown, one can see why Apple signed up a three month exclusivity deal to sell it through iTunes. Full of fashion and substance, the movie's direction successfully matches the vibrant lifestyle it tries to encapsulate.

On a negative note, while I really enjoyed Mean Girls even I have to admit that the story was hardly original and plot twists could be spotted as easily as my mother's rear end. Some of the jokes were immature, but hey if you can't snigger at fart noises you probably won't be sitting in the cinema watching this movie anyway. You've got to accept this movie for what it is: a well intended chick flick; Mean Girls is obviously going to appeal more to women then men because of the nature of the film. It is an enjoyable film but it is hardly groundbreaking, it does very little to add to the genre but still manages to succeed because it is a well made movie. The main criticisms people will have of Mean Girls is that it is perhaps a little too idealistic, but this is excusable in my opinion due to its target audience and the age of the characters it deals with. As David T. Wolf once said 'Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows'; this happy-go-lucky notion typifies Cady's naivety as the movie begins and how the film eventually plays out.

I was really impressed by the majority of the cast of this movie; it is worth pinching yourself at times to remember that the majority of them are still in their teens. Lindsay Lohan is undoubtedly a superstar in the making; she has the looks, acting ability and is getting the breaks to become a major player in Tinseltown. Playing the two contrasting characters, a naïve new student and a cruel member of the Plastics, was done with ease but she also added something special to the mix - a gift for comedy. Lohan plays to the camera at every opportunity and had me in stitches of laughter all the way through Mean Girls, it didn't matter whether she was showing off Cady's lack of social skills or making all those stupid mistakes every teenager does. What was most impressive about her comedic performance was the subtlety involved; there is one scene in particular where she does a great job of looking slutty in a revealing dress. It is much less direct than some of the upfront slapstick involved in the movie whilst still drawing a good response from the audience, overall it highlights that limbo we all go through during adolescence where we try to find our bearings in the brave new world around us. Lohan's performance will obviously strike a chord with teenage girls around the globe and I'm sure the teen actress will benefit for years to come as her box office draw will show.

There are plenty of other cast members that shine throughout Mean Girls, the most notable performances are those of Rachel McAdams (Regina George), Lacey Chabert (Gretchen Weiners) and Daniel Franzese (Damien). McAdams and Chabert are at their bitchy best throughout the film and are the girls you just love to hate. McAdams' character, Regina George, is frightfully intimidating and is quite reminiscent of Jeri Ryan's Star Trek character 'Seven of Nine', it's no wonder that she is being linked with a role in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. Lacey Chabert is the ultimate teen drama queen combining an outlandish hair-do, good looks and frivolous nature to become a diehard Plastic, with a couple more teen comedies lined up Chabert is sure to be on our screens for a while yet. Franzese's gay character, Damien, bolsters the comedic aspect of Mean Girls; he is described as being 'too gay to function' and is great for light hearted moments in the film. There are plenty of other familiar faces that pop up throughout the movie, they give tremendous support to the main cast and give Mean Girls the overall quality of an accomplished film.

Piaras Kelly
Editor, Kikizo Movies