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 ‘Girls’ packs a not-so-mean punch A Review By Hannah Pittard “Mean Girls” is the story of 11th grader Cady Heron (played by Lindsay Lohan) who, after years of home schooling in Africa, enters a traditional high school in order to be properly “socialized.” Naïve to the ways of post-pubescent girls, Heron finds herself confronted by the unwritten social rules of the “Plastics,” a clique of three beautiful, brutal girls. Written by the first female head writer for “Saturday Night Live” Tina Fey, “Mean Girls” is anything but a dud. It is not, however, as brutally cunning a script as the previews might suggest. Maybe it’s for the best, but “Mean Girls” is not one cruel gag after another, which, to be honest, is sort of what I was hoping. Instead, “Mean Girls” takes its time making introductions and setting the stage before giving its final punch, which, surprisingly, comes not in the form of a joke, but a washed-out lesson: Women are their own worst enemies. Along the way to this lesson, however, there are of course jokes and gags aplenty — many of them “Saturday Night Live” quality, most of them simply better-than-the-average-movie funny, but none of them “Old School” caliber. Standouts include Tim Meadows (“Saturday Night Live,” “Ladies’ Man”) as the deadpan headmaster, Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live,” “Envy”) as a “wannabe” cool mom and, of course, Fey herself as the teacher who “pushes.” In the end, “Mean Girls” isn’t “Heathers” and it certainly isn’t “Clueless,” but it is a fairly accurate, though simultaneously far-out, look at today’s high school girl. |
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