Running time: 97 minutes
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows
Rating 7 out of 10
The bitchiness of schoolgirls has become a regular source of inspiration for the movies ever since Heathers defined the genre fifteen years ago. Written by Daniel Waters and based upon his sister's high school experience, the family connection has now extended to Waters' younger brother Mark who is the director of this latest glimpse into the Machiavellian world of teenage girls. Mean Girls is a wryly observed and amusing take on pubescent feminine angst. Taking a broader approach than its originator, it has a playful, irreverent edge rather than the cutesy, saccharine slant often adopted. It's the second time Mark Waters and Lindsay Lohan have worked together following their collaboration on the successful Freaky Friday. Possessing a blend of wholesome innocence and sassy sexiness, Lohan is the perfect choice to play Cady Heron. After growing up in Africa and being home schooled, Cady is ill prepared for the vicious, backstabbing arena of American high school life where she struggles for acceptance.
Written by Saturday Night Live regular Tina Fey, who also takes on the role of Heron's maths teacher Ms Norbury, Mean Girls paints a vivid picture of school life, even if it's of a rather suburban, well appointed campus. All the various clichéd cliques are accounted for. The central one being the super vain, Barbie set who call themselves the Plastics.
Consisting of queen bitch Regina George (Rachel McAdams), along with her two acolytes Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and Karen (Amanda Seyfried), the Plastics are revered by most and despised by some, particularly bitter goth Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and her super gay co-conspirator Damian (Daniel Franzese). The pair befriend Cady, but when the Plastics also extend their well manicured hands of friendship, Cady finds her loyalties torn. Things are further complicated by her crush on Regina's ex, Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett).
The boundaries of girls' evil is explored to hilarious end by Fey's sharp script which mixes in the absurd with the touching. The characters, if familiar, are all well realized with one or two notable standouts, in particular Tim Meadows as the doleful principal.
Although Mean Girls treads well worn ground, it does so with much wit and whimsy, making for an enjoyable distraction. And as for Daniel and Mark Waters' sister, she surely deserves at least a credit.
