It doesn't matter if you're a girl or a boy, a kid or an adult, at some point in time we have all heard of the movie, Means Girls. Now whether you fall on the spectrum as knowing every word spoken in the movie by heart, or just the vague plot-line, is a different story, and that probably is what defines whether or not you would categorize this movie as good. When it comes to chick flicks, I think this movie tops them all, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. The movie is about a girl named Cady Heron who has lived in Africa her whole life and has been home-schooled there, and around her junior year in high school her family decides to move to the states and enroll her in a public school. This is where Cady is introduced to, what the movie coins, "Girl World". Where every clique has their own drama and gossip, but then above all, there is the "Queen Bee" Regina George, who takes a certain interest in Cady (*maybe she sees potential) and decides to add her to the group. Now Cady is partaking in three way phone calls, backstabbing your closest friends, all while trying to sabotage Regina George's life because her real friends talked her into it. Its one of the most unique plot-lines, and its a classic girls night movie that can never be watched too many times.
One scene that has always stood out to me in this movie is the Halloween party scene. Cady gets invited to a Halloween party hosted by Aaron Samuels (who she likes, but used to date her friend Regina).While every other girl there is wearing costumes that are a little conspicuous, Cady dresses up as a "ex-wife" or zombie looking person and completely stands out (not in the way she was hoping). The reason this scene stands out the most to me, is because it is the first time we see Regina's character's true colors. So far the movie has made it apparent that she is a mean girl, but we haven't seen her do anything beside ask the new girl to sit at her table at lunch, and contemplate what to eat that doesn't contain carbs. This is the first scene we see her do something that is questionable. She promises that she'll help Cady get Aaron and assures her that there is nothing between them, so no hard feelings. But then she precedes to make Cady look like a creepy stalker and ends up getting back together with Aaron ending the scene with a kiss. It shows the complexity of the character (or rather lack of).
The way the movie was filmed was in one word pink. Its a very cliched chick flick type of movie, and the color scheme vividly portrays that. Its a very bright movie, even in the most intense scenes. The only dark scene I can think of is towards the end, where the movie conveys the meaning behind the movie, and it tries to get the message across in a more serious light. I think the color scheme plays a huge role in how intense the movie is, because of the happy and light color pallet you don't ever feel too tense, or on the edge, but rather your just wondering whats gonna happen next. The movie has a lot of funny catch phrases, that keep it lighthearted and interesting too. There were a lot of close ups in this movie, as well as a lot of scenes that cut back and forth. For example, whenever Cady would remember how things would be handled when she lived in the jungle the current scene would change and everyone would start jumping around acting like wild animals, and then it would cut back to what was actually happening. The scenes that were filmed from further away were usually to portray the setting rather than focusing on what was happening in the scene. These were typically used whenever there was a transition from one scene to another.
Linsday Lohan plays Cady Heron and regardless of what we all think of her as a person, I think she does a phenomenal job playing the role. The whole cast in fact was perfectly assembled. Rachel McAdams plays Regina George, and Tina Fey plays a teacher as well as wrote the screen play for the movie. I remember reading online that Tina Fey actually based this off a school she attended in the northern suburbs of Illinois. Tina Fey is typically very funny, so it came as no surprise to me that the movie was very relatable and even though it was a chick flick it didn't strike me as cheesy or overdone the way most movies do. The language the actors used was very normal and it seemed like a real story, and not too much like a movie. Rachel McAdams did a good job too, I don't think there is a role that she can't play, she's a great actress and she delivered the mean girl persona perfectly. She has also starred in movies such as Time Travelers Wife, and the Notebook, which are more serious than this one, but this role doesn't seem like it was out of her comfort zone. Linsday Lohan on the other hand has only played in a few other movies, none of which I'm assuming were nearly as successful. She has played in Just My Luck, and when she was younger in the Parent Trap. So this role seemed to be something that was normal for her, it wasn't too much of a genre change. Tina Fey also has played in Baby Mama, and Date Night, and other comedies, so this was also right up her ally.
Overall, I found this movie to be a classic, as does almost anyone else who has seen it. It's just one of those movies that you can watch over and over again and you find yourself referencing or repeating the catch phrases. Personally, I give it two thumbs up. One of the reasons I think it did so well is because there weren't too many movies like this when it came out, sure there has always been high school movies, but this one seemed to really connect to the audience. I think it really portrayed high school life accurately in a way that didn't seem cheesy or written with words that were outdated. It was modern and nonchalant and the story was very unique.
