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Mean Girls
2004
In this survival-of-the-fittest teen comedy, high school is a dangerous jungle seething with teenagers who prey on each other like wild animals. The non-stop jokes are hilariously rewarding as they exaggerate adolescent vanity and satirize political correctness issues like race, class, and homosexuality. Here, the Plastics are .. Read more
| Starring | Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Waters |
| Genres | Comedy, Teen |
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Mean Girls
In this survival-of-the-fittest teen comedy, high school is a dangerous jungle seething with teenagers who prey on each other like wild animals. The non-stop jokes are hilariously rewarding as they exaggerate adolescent vanity and satirize political correctness issues like race, class, and homosexuality. Here, the Plastics are the most popular girls in school. They wrote the rule book on Girl World, like always wearing pink on Tuesdays. And they're mean. So when pretty new girl Cady (Lindsay Lohan) arrives in school, the first thing they do is make fun of her. Then they try to win her over. Cady is torn between social cliques. She befriends the punky rebels Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese). But the guy Cady wants to date is friends with the Plastics--Regina (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen (Lacey Chabert), and Karen (Amanda Seyfriend)--so she has to be resourceful. Problem is, the two groups hate each other. Just trying to fit in, Cady jumps through hoops for the Plastics and becomes a mean girl in the process. Though her transformation is radical, when the final act of meanness is done, she learns a few valuable lessons.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE writer Tina Fey contributes the script and also stars as a teacher, quietly smirking at her own jokes throughout the antics. Directed by FREAKY FRIDAY's Mark Waters, MEAN GIRLS doesn't miss a beat, following the faithful formula of teen fare such as SIXTEEN CANDLES and HEATHERS. The soundtrack features songs by Blondie, Missy Elliot, PINK, The Donnas, and Janis Ian.
| Starring | Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Jonathan Bennett, Daniel DeSanto, Lizzy Caplan, Courtney Chase, Krysta Carter |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Waters |
| Studio | PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 37 mins Watch now: 1 hr 36 mins |
| Certificate | DVD: , Watch Online: |
| Collections | 100 Feisty Females |
| Genres | Comedy, Teen |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 18 Oct 2004 Watch now: 10 Aug 2009 Production year: 2004 |
| Watch now | £2.49 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (4)
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Inspired by a real-life high-school survival manual for teenage girls and their mothers (Queen Bees and Wannabes), Mean Girls is a bracingly dark comedy which brings to mind such classics of the genre as Heathers. Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is a bright, pretty kid who has been home-educated in Africa by her anthropologist parents, and is thrown in at the deep end when she attends high school in the US for the first time. Befriended by the geek clique, she also infiltrates the “plastics” — a troika of Barbie-like popular girls — where she learns the art of being queen bitch, but soon begins to enjoy her newfound status a little too much. Despite descending into slightly saccharine moralising towards the end, this is a snappily written, acerbic account of the American secondary education experience that will make most Brits grateful they didn't have to go through it.
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Based on research, this is presumably an authentic comedy of American high school life, though it comes out as the usual mix of bitchiness and striving for popularity; although lively enough, it is also bland and forgettable.
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Most helpful member's review
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24 out of 25 people found this review helpful
Intelligent and Witty
Usually, I find that teen comedy is an enjoyable, but brainless genre. Not that there's anything wrong in that, as it normally makes for fun viewing, but when one comes out that isn't empty in the brain department, it is an event of particular note; and Mean Girls is a film that fits that description. Hollywood's hottest teen starlet, Lindsay Lohan stars as Cady Heron, a sixteen year old home-schooled girl that has lived in Africa all of her life. Because of her life in Africa, Cady thinks she knows about survival, but she's about to learn it all again when she starts high-school for the first time and comes into contact with an A-list clique known as 'The Plastics', headed by the very 'mean' Regina George and her slightly less mean, but very loyal cronies; the very sexy Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. The movie is very obviously written by a woman, and it seems to be geared towards teen girls more than any other audience; but there's still much for other people to enjoy about it.
Mean Girls is keen to draw parallels between how teenagers interact within the society of a high school, and how animals act in the jungle. This is a fair comparison and one that will probably ring true for most people that have attended high school. However, that isn't where this movie's main asset lies; it's the hilarious way that the girls interact with each other that is. The first hour of the movie is hilarious, and it's great fun to sit and watch as the girls manipulate, connive, bitch and back-stab their way through one another. Unlike other teen comedies, such as American Pie; this one doesn't rely on big set-pieces to bring in the laughs, and most of them spring from its witty and intelligent script; and it's funnier for it. However, a great first hour gives way to a rather trite final third, but it doesn't completely spoil the movie. It doesn't quite work because the movie has been living up to its title throughout, so when it stops being mean and starts being sentimental; it doesn't really fit what it's being building up to all the way through. However, the final third does allow the film to bring out its message, which is warm and actually has some meaning behind it.
As mentioned, Lindsay Lohan heads a great cast of young talent. This is my first encounter with this actress, and I'm fairly impressed by what she's done here. Although her performance isn't magnificent, teen starlets have come with an expectation of being rubbish recently, and Lindsay proves this trend wrong here. The rest of the cast is made up mostly of lesser-known teen stars, but all excel in their roles and there isn't a weak link amongst them. The soundtrack to the film isn't particularly good and comprises mostly of teen-friendly fluff songs (including Kelis' extremely rubbish 'Milkshake'), which fit with the film; but you do get the impression that they're just there to please the teen crowd when the film would have been better without them.
Despite some flaws that I've mentioned, Mean Girls still stands out as a refreshing teen comedy. Although it doesn't surpass the film it took influence from; the magnificent 'Heathers' by a long way, it still has some nice moments and a brain to boot -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Better for Younger Viewers
My attention started to drift from this film about half way through - i didn't really like it but I think younger girls ( under 16) would appreciate it a lot more.
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News and features
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Lohan to co-operate with police over missing jewels
- 16 Jun 2009
Lindsay Lohan has vowed to fully co-operate with police as they investigate the disappearance of jewellery from her recent photoshoot with Elle magazine. The Mean Girls star has been caught up in an official inquiry after £30,000 of gems allegedly vanished from the set of the photoshoot, which took place during the actress' trip to London earlier this month (Jun09). The jewels were loaned to the magazine for the picture session, but were not returned to the jewellery store afterwards. The Read more
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