Mean Girls Review

Before Lindsay Lohan turned into whatever she turned into, she used to make some good movies with good lessons for teens.  Mean Girls was one of them.  I've seen this movie multiple times and I've always enjoyed it.  It's the kind of movie that makes me hope Lindsay changes her life around and gets back into this movie business!

The Plot surrounds Cady, a young girl who was raised in Africa since her parents are zoologist.  She is now moving to a new American school which is actually the first time she's ever gone to school since she was homeschooled her whole life.  At school, she finds it hard to make friends and right off the bat no one seems to like her, including the teachers.  This school was just a different world than Africa.  Eventually Damian and Janis, two outcasts at the school, befriend her.  They tell her she's a "hottie" and can't believe she doesn't know it.

Then come  in the Plastics which are 3 girls who run the school based on their looks and money.  Regina, Karen and Gretchen are used to being very popular and very perfect.  The plastics randomly meet Cady and they seem to take a liking to her.  Believe it or not, Janis thinks this is awesome because she wants to use Cady to find out everything there is to know about Regina and her crew.  It all starts as a way to play pranks on Regina, but then Cady starts to fit in with the plastics a little too well.  Will she become one of them?  You'll have to see!!

The Movie is not your typical teen flick.  It is not like those movies where they try to make a lot of silly jokes and crazy things going on.  Instead, I see it as a more of a lesson filled comedy for teens and adults.  It's one of the few teen movies out there where romance is not the main focus.  Instead, we are focusing more on Cady and her friendships.  Who will she choose to be friends with?  The freaks? Or the Plastics? 

The movie is very funny for many reasons.  One thing I like is how Cady is always comparing the high school life to the African Jungle.  Since that was the only thing she knew in life up until now, she sees every situation as something that can be compared to the wild.  Maybe she's right! But for the most part she's totally clueless about normal teenage life and high school.

The plastics are pretty funny as well.  They exaggerate their qualities but even so, it's still not to the level of some of those sillier teen flicks.  Regina (Rachel McAdams) is the evil one, Karen (Amanda Seyfried) is a dimwit, and Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) is the gossip who will do anything to make sure Regina likes her. 

Karen: If you're from Africa, why are you white?
Gretchen: Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white.

Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) show the other side of the coin as they are the freaks and are constantly hating on Regina.  So we get humor out of them as well as they think of ways to ruin Regina's life.

Cady: And they have this book, this burn book, where they write mean things about all the girls in our grade.
Janis: What does it say about me?
Cady: You're not in it.
Janis: Those b**ches!

The staff is pretty funny as well as Tim Meadows and Tina Fey play two of the main faculty members that Cady must interact with.  You should recognize those names from Saturday Night Live and you know they are funny.  They bring a little something extra to the movie.

Mr. Duvall: Her name is Cady. Cady Heron. Where are you, Cady?
Cady: That's me. It's pronounced like Katie.
Mr. Duvall: My apologies. I have a nephew named Anfernee, and I know how mad he gets when I call him Anthony. Almost as mad as I get when I think about the fact that my sister named him Anfernee.

The movie actually has some good lessons in it.  It's not about getting the guy, or becoming the most popular.  Instead Cady has a lot to learn about friendship.  But she's not the only ones to need to learn, her parents need to learn about raising a high school teen.  Also, the Plastics may actually learn something too!  The lessons and drama aren't boring though because they are placed into the movie in a good way.

In The End I enjoy this movie and I watch it whenever it's on and I'm bored.  It's entertaining enough that I actually want to pay attention to it even though I've seen it before.  I recommend this movie even if you are watching it on TV.  I really hope that if Lindsay ever gets back into movies, she tries this type of genre again because she's was very good at this type of film.  Enjoy!!