Mean Girls remains the breath of fresh air we knew it to be when it first debuted back in 2004. Unlike some films who manage to break genre but go stale, Mean Girls lives in a zip-loc bag of relevance. Whether or not we should attribute Mean Girls' value to its analysis of the unchanging nature of high school politics or to the film's well-crafted plot, acting or direction is open to debate. Even when Mean Girls falters it still carries itself well - better than most teenage-aimed fare that's come before or since.
Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) spent her childhood in the African wilderness with her parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn). With their work complete, the Herons return to America and Cady finds herself thrust from one savage land to another. It turns out that playing with fierce plains predators has odd parallels to the high school landscape. Finding near immediate camaraderie in outcasts Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), Cady establishes herself as an easy-going, modest math wiz. Like any teenager in social status limbo, Cady struggles to define herself within the high school community. Given the opportunity to abandon her outcast status and throw in with "The Plastics", the high school royalty, Cady accepts under the guise of a prank - but it doesn't last. Her sufficiently worried parents watch her social development with appropriate amounts of consternation as Cady's personality shifts from maladjusted to malice as Cady soars high in the social stratosphere with Regina (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and Karen (Amanda Seyfried).
As expected, Cady comes in for a crash landing when it becomes clear that her life on the inside isn't better than where she started. Cady sets about repairing her shattered social life and proving herself once more to her friends, family and teachers.
There are few performances from Lindsay Lohan that any of us can claim to be decent. I Know Who Killed Me? Georgia Rule? Herbie Fully Loaded? Mean Girls is the shining achievement in everything Lohan has accomplished - and deservedly so, she performs admirably. What's more impressive and notable than the younger cast (Lohan, McAdams, Chabert, etc.) is the effort given to this teen flick from the packed adult cast. SNL stars turned out in droves to be in Tina Fey's first and only screenplay credit. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn all offer hilarious performances. Tim Meadows especially shines as the oddly vulnerable principal.
You can't do much better than Mean Girls when it comes to teenage-aimed fare. Even the classic Jon Hughes films seem "too nice" when the social brutality of Mean Girls is taken into consideration.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Blu-ray's standard audio commentary gets a needed infusion of comedy thanks to Tina Fey's presence and, shockingly, Lorne Michaels's. While director Mark Waters also contributed to the gab track, it's the former two which make it all worthwhile. After that we have two more standard items in the deleted scenes and blooper reels: while the first is interesting only for the true fans, the bloopers benefit from a talented younger cast and the collection of comedic stars on the adult supporting cast. Finally we come to our features which give us a taste of costume design, character analysis and the obvious tribute to the book that inspired the film. There are also three interstitials, which are brief informational segments, attempting to give us a taste of comedy via the characters we've come to know and love after watching the movie. They're decent, but hearing a few girls talk about frenemies isn't all that interesting.
Mean Girls should be seen at least once by even the most condescending film snob. All too often the Jon Hughes films are heralded as untouchable pieces of teen pop culture and usually there are no other films to challenge their position - but Mean Girls can and does. So give it a shot.
"Mean Girls" is on sale April 14, 2009 and is rated PG13. Comedy. Directed by Mark Waters. Written by Rosalind Wiseman (novel), Tina Fey (screenplay). Starring Amanda Seyfried, Amy Poehler, Lizzy Caplan, Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Lacey Chabert, Neil Flynn.
