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Directed by Mark S. Waters; written by Rosalind Wiseman (novel), Tina Fey (screenplay). Starring Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey. Released to DVD on September 21, 2004.  Over the last 18 months Lindsay Lohan has emerged as a cultural icon on par with Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. Host of the 2004 MTV music awards, star of Freaky Friday and consistently one of the most Googled names on the internet, Lohan has become a teenage marketing force. With this in mind, the question one might ask is, why? Putting forth little of the jailbait persona that Spears and Christina Aguilera have used with great success, Lohan's professional persona rarely generates controversy. Nevertheless, Lohan is seemingly uniformly liked (with the obvious Hilary Duff exception). And perhaps her popularity is due to her aptitude for offending, exactly, no one. Far from a strong personality, Lohan's films establish her as kind, cute and innocuous - the type of personality onto which one can project one's wishes and desires. Lohan as supportive best friend? Sure. Lohan as the lovable loser? Okay. Lohan as aggressive sexual vixen? Why not?Written with a comedic and slightly satirical edge by “Saturday Night Live's" Tina Fey, Mean Girls directly plays into this concept. Far from dominating the film in her star turn, Lohan serves as the straight woman to the impressive ensemble cast. Playing the generally good-hearted Cady, Lohan is rarely entertaining or interesting on her own. What she does provide however, is a character with whom the audience can identify; an escort through the often emotionally treacherous landscape of adolescence.
The threadbare story of Mean Girls hangs on Cady's entrance into the fictional North Shore High School. Raised in Africa by her anthropologist parents, Cady is forced to quickly adjust to the intimidating teenage suburban social scene. Mean Girls expends a great deal of effort emphasizing the cultural anthropological theme, taking time to sketch a surprisingly superficial taxonomy of high school culture, something that has been done before, and better, by Clueless, Drive Me Crazy, and the short-lived TV show “Freaks & Geeks.”
The resolution of Mean Girls is what one might expect. The modest conflicts that still exist in the third reel are all resolved at the year-end dance. Still, Lohan's willingness or inability to dominate the screen allows for several genuine comedic moments that make this teen-comedy a bit smarter and more entertaining than the standard tweener fare.
Peter Beck yes, it's true: Although Mean Girls was not actually filmed in Evanston, Illinois, where takes place, several real North Shore locations in and around Evanston are mentioned. These include Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie, Walker Brothers Pancake House and Northwestern University. |
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Redeeming the film to a certain extent are unexpectedly good turns by supporting characters such as Damian (Daniel Franzese), Cady's gay friend, or Kevin (Rajiv Surendra), the gangsta mathlete. Mining relatively infertile material, the pair consistently produces laughs.