After growing
up abroad, young teenager Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) moves to
Chicago, where she quickly makes inroads into the most popular
clique in high school -- that is, until Cady falls in love with
the ex-boyfriend of one of the clique members… then there's hell
to pay.
CRITIQUE
Based on
Rosalind Wiseman’s book Queen Bees and Wannabes,
Mean Girls was written by Tina Fey (who also co-stars). She
and Tim Meadows bring some Saturday Night Live style humor
to this film. Lindsay Lohan turns out a decent performance as
Cady, the movie’s leading good (and later mean) girl. Nearly
everyone’s first impression of this film is that it is a film
solely for teenage girls. After watching this movie, viewers
should be pleasantly surprised.
The movie doesn’t
contain much substance, but it isn’t supposed to. The movie is a
raunchy, almost too real look at popular teenage girl behavior.
It is meant to be a spoof, with some activity being familiar in high
schools today, while the rest is a bit outrageous - everything from
stealing boyfriends to gossiping is touched upon. The school-wide riot
was a bit unbelievable, but there are many funny moments such as
Gretchen (Lacey Chabert, TVs Party of Five) telling Karen
(Amanda Seyfried) that she just can’t ask people why they’re white,
and Damian (Daniel Franzese) saying “Oh no she did not”. The list goes
on.
Most guys will, and
should not be, ashamed to tell others how funny and entertaining
Mean Girls actually is. Aside from the eye candy, Mean Girls
provides (literally) laugh out loud comedy from start to finish.
THE VIDEO
Paramount presents Mean
Girls in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Picture quality looks
very good, colors are bright and clear, and the print is in
great shape.
THE AUDIO
Paramount presents Mean
Girls in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. Dialogue is
clear and easy to understand, as are the various sound effects
and pop songs.
THE EXTRAS
The commentary by writer/actor Tina Fey, director Mark Waters
and producer Lorne Michaels is decent, but doesn't offer
anything special. Some issues are touched upon, with Fey providing
fun trivia, but there is also silence here and there.
Next are nine deleted scenes, which are fun to watch, with
optional commentary from Waters and Fey. Then we get three
featurettes: The Politics of Girl World, an interview with
author Rosalind Wiseman, Plastic Fashion, a look at the
film's fashion/costume design, and Only the Strong Survive,
a usual making-of with cast and crew interviews as well as
behind-the-scenes footage, that run for a combined 45 minutes or
so.
Lastly, Word Vomit offers a little over five minutes worth
of bloopers. The film's trailer, TV spots, and
previews round out the bonus features.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mean Girls is a
funny movie, and the DVD extras are pretty decent. It's definitely
worth a look.
