Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron
Rachel McAdams as Regina George
Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall
Ana Gasteyer as Betsy Heron
Amy Poehler as Mrs. George
Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury
Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels
Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian
Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Weiners
Courtney Chase as Sybillya
Wai Choy as Tim Pak
Neil Flynn as Chip Heron
Daniel Franzese as Damian
Olympia Lukis as Jessica Lopez
Jonathan Malen as Peter Haldi
Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith
Rajiv Surendra as Kevin Gnapoor
Critique:
Hollywood has taught the world that it is hard being a high school student and it is worse if you are new student to the school. Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) makes that transition even harder by entering high school after being home schooled in Africa by her naturalist parents.
All of the familiar high school cliques are there: jocks, band geeks, the “outcasts”, and the “plastics” (stuck up pretty girls). Cady finds a small group of friends, but when she is asked to sit with the plastics she enters yet another world almost as different from high school as her home studies in Africa.
The majority of the movie is the interactions between Cady and the leader of the plastics, Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Regina is the original mean girl, although all of the girls that join her clique are worthy of the title. The situations all seem plausible, if unlikely, and the plot moves along at a quick pace.
The writing was done by Saturday Night Live news anchor Tina Fey. This is one of the better scripts to come from SNL in a long time. SNL alumni are also well represented in the cast as parents and teachers with Tim Meadows having the best role of his career as the principal, Mr. Duvall. The young actors that make up the student body hold up well and come across as more than just stereotypes.
The humor is often, as the title implies, mean; but it is mostly on the mark and funny. There is the requisite romance, but it is interwoven into the plot instead of standing beside it. At times, the film borders on being preachy. These moments are brief and, sometimes they are used to add to the humor also.
Who should see this movie? Lindsay Lohan is great here. The film revolves around her character and she holds the movie up well. Director Mark Waters is the brother of Daniel Waters, who wrote the screenplay for Heathers using their sister as a role model. She had a lasting effect because Mean Girls is able to remain sweet, even while being mean. If you are looking for action all you will find here are Cady’s daydreams of the students acting like wild animals at lunch or the mall. The romance is more of a background motivator than hot and steamy, but it is a sweet one. Surprisingly, the movie gives the audience credit for having a brain and does make you think about the consequences of actions. The target audience for the movie is girls between the ages of about 13 to 20. It hits the mark there, but the humor and well written dialog are a pleasure for any movie goer.
