Danielle Solzman
Mean Girls, the celebrated teen comedy written by Saturday Night Live‘s Tina Fey, celebrates 15 years following its release in theaters.
When zoologists Betsy (Ana Gasteyer) and Chip Heron (Neil Flynn) relocate to Evanston after a dozen years in Africa, it means Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) would have to enroll in an actual high school. No more home-schooling for their daughter. Cady is certainly in for a rude awakening upon arriving at North Shore High School. Making friends is easier said than done. Fellow classmates Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese) soon educate Cady on the in’s and out’s of the school. Most importantly, the obvious warning of the Plastics and their Queen Bee, Regina George (Rachel McAdams).
Before we know it, Cady infiltrates the Plastics, including Gretchen Weiners (Lacey Chabert) and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). It’s only when Cady learns about Regina’s Burn Book in which Janis sets out on a plan to take her down. Reluctant at first, Cady signs on when Regina steals away Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) from out in front of him. Chaos ensues until finally climaxing when Regina takes the book and spreads it all over the school. School principal Ron Duvall (Tim Meadows) and math teacher Ms. Norbury (Tina Fey) gather all of the school’s junior girls in hopes of restoring the calm. Calm gets restored but not until after Regina gets hit by a bus while Cady gets grounded by her parents.
Some 15 years later, one can make the argument that fetch finally happened. Obviously, you’ll be wearing pink on Wednesday, right? Just as there are rules in the animal kingdom, there are rules for our favorite on-screen clique: the Plastics.
Tina Fey’s script is one that is very funny. You never know where you going to find influence for a film. In this instance, it’s a book by Rosalind Wiseman. Even some 15 years later, this is a film that still manages to draw laughs. This is exactly why the film has a following to this day.
Everyone in this film is perfectly cast. Both Lohan and McAdams are perfect in their roles. McAdams probably isn’t where she is today without this film. There are number of SNL stars here and they add so much to the film. Whether it’s Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, or Amy Poehler, they add to the comedy at hand. The scenes featuring Meadows and Fey add another layer of humor because of their SNL chemistry.
When we think of the great high school comedies, Mean Girls is near the top of the list because it’s so fetch.
DIRECTOR: Mark Waters
SCREENWRITER: Tina Fey
CAST: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese, Neil Flynn, Jonathan Bennett, Amanda Seyfried, and Tina Fey
