Double Feature

June 2008 - This June marks 24 years since my high school graduation. Next year is another big reunion, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I am, however, sure about how I feel about these two high school-related movies.

Heathers is a quirky, R-rated black comedy from 1989. Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star along with Shannen Doherty.

Ryder plays Veronica Sawyer, daughter of a well-to-do couple. She hangs with the coolest girls in school, who all happened to be named Heather. When they're not abusing the fat kids or the geeks, they play croquet in Veronica's backyard.

One day at school, Veronica meets Jason Dean. If you couldn't tell he was a rebel by his black trench coat, the Colt .45 he whipped out and fired during lunch made it clear. Veronica and J.D. are soon inseparable and intent on bringing down the Heathers.

They trick the head Heather into drinking some drain cleaner and, thanks to Veronica's talent for forgery, make it look like suicide. Heather #1 turns out to be even more popular after death, and the new head Heather (Doherty) is even more of a bitch.

Next to go are two big jocks. "Suicide" also does wonders for them. Veronica realizes that maybe being cool isn't so cool after all. She ditches J.D., which makes her his next target. And after that, J.D. plans his ultimate form of revenge - blowing up the school with everyone in it!

Overall review: Ehhh, it was OK. I suppose this film was edgy when it came out but, in a post-Columbine world, it's hard to see it as very funny. Still, its observances about school cliques ring true.

Cliques also play a big part in Mean Girls, a PG-13 comedy from 2004 featuring Lindsay Lohan and Lacey Chabert plus Tina Fey and a bunch of other Saturday Night Live stars and former stars.

Lohan plays Cady Heron, a new student at a high school in/near Chicago. Cady's parents are research scientists. The family has been living in Africa for years, so Cady has been home-schooled and high school is a whole new kind of jungle for her.

The first people to befriend her are a gay guy and a Goth girl. They tell Cady who's who at the school. But, Cady is quickly sucked into a clique called "the Plastics," whose three leaders set the school standard for style and bitchiness.

Cady intends to stay loyal to her geek friends, only hanging with the Plastics so she can destroy them. But, things don't go as planned and Cady ends up becoming a Plastic for a while. Of course, in the end, Cady redeems herself, becomiing the most popular girl in school and getting the guy. Can't we all just get along?

Overall review: Ehhh, it was OK. Mean Girls pretty much nails the back-biting that goes on, even among the best of friends. But, overall, the plot is kind of thin. If Cady had ended up staying a Plastic, I don't think I would have cared.