Class Reunion at Evanston

Mean Girls (Mark Waters, 2004) has acquired a cult status in the years since I first saw it.  Came the news, now, that the movie was being produced as a stage musical.  It's set to premiere at the end of this month, and features book by the movie's original screenwriter, Tina Fey.  Time for another look at the film, maybe?

II.

The first impression is that I quickly recalled liking Mean Girls back then, too.  Here again is Lindsay Lohan the teen, playing the teen Cady Heron.  Cady has been away in Africa with her parents, her education having been homeschooled.  The Heron return to America means that Cady will now be attending a public high school in Evanston, Illinois.

At the school, Cady meets Regina George (Rachel McAdams) of the clique The Plastics.  Regina is Queen Plastic of the group, which also includes Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). The Plastics' activities include marching about snootily, spreading petty and malicious gossip about other (mostly female) students, all to maintain the image of being the prettiest, the most popular and envied, at their high school.

Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) are not of the popular crowd.  They earlier made a point of warning Cady about the Plastics.  But when Janis notices Regina being friendly with Cady, she sees an opportunity to use Cady as a willing mole, in carrying out mischief against the Queen.

Will the operation to topple Regina be successful?  Can Cady pretend to be cosy with the Plastics without becoming as superficial and mean as Regina?  Just how does a particular "Burn Book" of assorted gossip and insults figure in all this?  

III.

Tina Fey's screenplay is attentive to the sights and sounds of a period high school.  Parents and teachers are shown amused and bemused, or plain made amusing, by teenhood.  The emerging detail will have developed a nostalgic patina for some viewers. Others - not.

When there are lapses in the comedy, Mark Waters' direction suggests a natural pause, just before the delivery of another deft punchline. The cast acting is sharp and agile.  Certainly in the case of Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, Mean Girls remains among their best performances.