The old saying goes that girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice, while boys are made of snakes, snails, and puppy-dog tails. Yeah right. While that might apply to a degree with small children, and it's true that men in general are a bit more rude and crude than women, there's always that fascinating element known as teenage girls.
Although some are fine and fairly well-adjusted, others are nasty, Lord of the Flies sorts, particularly when it comes to school and related cliques. Author Rosalind Wiseman wrote about just that and other matters in her bestselling work, "Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence." Now head "Saturday Night Live" writer Tina Fey and director Mark Waters ("Freaky Friday," "Head Over Heels") have adapted it into the rather funny and witty comedy, "Mean Girls."
The epitome of all such films, of course, is "Heathers," the ultra sharp black comedy featuring Winona Ryder as the newcomer who decides to off the others in her clique. In this effort -- that doesn't quite match that Michael Lehmann film in terms of overall story or dark satire -- it's Lindsay Lohan ("Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," "Freaky Friday") who finds herself first at the mercy of the snobbish elite, then joins and eventually runs the Plastics.
The beauty of Fey's script is not only its amusing qualities, but also how the fine details and nuances of such cliques and many teenage girls work. There's the usual tormenting of the weaker species, but also the sabotage and survival of the fittest elements within the "pack."
That Lohan's character is a former home-schooled pupil who lived in Africa and occasionally envisions the students as behaving as wild beasts under the laws of the jungle only makes it that much more amusing.
And when the alpha female not so subtly tells Cady that her ex-mate, uh, boyfriend, is off limits, our protagonist sets out to get her revenge. Not jungle or even "Kill Bill" style, but instead as only teenage girls do best, and that's by slyly stabbing the others in the back and otherwise attempting to ruin their social lives.
All of which easily could have misfired or just been mundane. Thankfully, Fey (who also appears in the film as a math teacher) seems to have her pulse on the heart of teenage throes and thus hits the comedy mark far more often than she misses.
It also helps that the performances are just right. While some of the characters delve in or at least teeter around caricatures and stereotypes, there are enough novel or subtle touches to them that they don't feel recycled.
As the outsider who quickly becomes the leader of the pack, Lohan is good, once again proving she can ably play this sort of comedy, equally balancing the naive early nature of her character with the more socially malicious aspects later on.
Rachel McAdams ("The Hot Chick," "Perfect Pie"), Lacey Chabert ("Daddy Day Care," "Lost in Space") and Amanda Seyfried (making her film debut) are all decent as the other Plastics' members, although I would have liked to have seen them come off as even a bit edgier and more malicious in their social dominance. Jonathan Bennett (making his feature debut) plays the standard, hunky high school object of desire, but gets the weakest written part, while Lizzy Caplan ("Orange County") and Daniel Franzese ("Party Monster," "Hometown Legend") get some amusing moments as the school outsiders.
Various "SNL" performers -- including Fey (making her film debut), Ana Gasteyer ("What Women Want," "Woman on Top") and Amy Poehler ("Envy," "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo") appear in supporting roles, but it's Tim Meadows ("The Ladies Man," "It's Pat") who's the best as the high school principal who's finally had enough with the catty remarks and behavior. While none of the major or minor characters are outstanding on their own, collectively they add up to a nice comedy mix.
With a lesser script, this easily could have been a bust in terms of social satire and/or simply generating laughs. Thankfully, and for the most part, Fey makes most of it work. While not as mean, original or funny as it might have been, and certainly not quite up to the standard established by "Heathers," "Mean Girls" is good enough to warrant a passing grade.
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