Mean Girls (2004)

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Director:

Mark Waters

Writers:

Rosalind Wiseman (book), Tina Fey (screenplay)

Stars:

Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey

7 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lindsay Lohan	...	Cady Heron
Rachel McAdams	...	Regina George
Tina Fey	...	Ms. Norbury
Tim Meadows	...	Mr. Duvall
Amy Poehler	...	Mrs. George
Ana Gasteyer	...	Cady's Mom
Lacey Chabert	...	Gretchen Wieners
Lizzy Caplan	...	Janis Ian
Daniel Franzese	...	Damian
Neil Flynn	...	Cady's Dad
Jonathan Bennett	...	Aaron Samuels
Amanda Seyfried	...	Karen Smith
Rajiv Surendra	...	Kevin Gnapoor
Elana Shilling	...	Spelling Girl
Graham Kartna	...	Homeschooled Boy

Storyline

Raised in African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron thinks she knows about survival of the fittest. But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when the home-schooled 16-year-old enters public high school for the first time and encounters psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teenage girls face today.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | clique | africa | secret | teenage girl | 

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Taglines:

So Fetch!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some teen partying

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount Pictures

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English German Vietnamese Swahili

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chicas pesadas

Filming Locations:

Convocation Hall, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$854,852 (France) (28 January 2005)

Gross:

$854,852 (France) (28 January 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, M.G. Films, Broadway Video

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Christmas candy canes are being distributed in the classroom Damien, dressed in a Santa suit, reads out the name Glenn Cocco, a good friend of Tina Fey.

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Goofs

When all the girls are confessing to their lies in the gym, Ms. Norbury asks, "Who here has been called a slut?". The teacher in the blue shirt raises her hand. When you see her behind Ms. Norbury in the next shot, her hand is down.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Chip Heron: This is your lunch, OK? I put a dollar in there so you can buy some milk; you can ask one of the big kids where to do that.
Betsy Heron: Do you remember your phone number? I wrote it down for you just in case. Put it in your pocket, I don't want you to lose it. OK? You ready?
Cady: I think so.

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Crazy Credits

The senior artist credit is misspelled "SENIOR ARTITST".

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Connections

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Fire"
by Joe Budden, Busta Rhymes (as Trevor Smith), Justin Smith, Melle Mel (as Melvin Glover), Kid Creole (as Nathaniel Glover), Scorpio (as Eddie Morris), Robert Wiggins, Rahiem (as Guy Williams), Frank Rodriguez, and Al McLaren, Jr.
Performed by Joe Budden featuring Busta Rhymes
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Busta Rhymes performs courtesy of Flipmode Records / J Records
Contains an interpolation of "Super Rappin"
by Melle Mel (as Melvin Glover), Kid Creole (as Nathaniel Glover), Scorpio (as Eddie Morris), Robert Wiggins, and Rahiem (as Guy Williams)
Contains an interpolation of "Whores in This House"
by Frank Rodriguez and Al McLaren, Jr.

User Reviews

Fun & worth seeing

"Mean Girls" is a fun movie that can be enjoyed thoroughly by the adult set as well as its seeming target audience, teens. The flick opens up with Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) embarking on her first day of the jungle that is high school ever as she has been home-schooled in Africa her whole life. After some initial bumps in the road, she manages to befriend two "artsy" misfits, Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese). Surprisingly, however, she is also quickly welcomed into the Plastics, a group of uber-popular girls who seem to be simultaneously admired and resented by all. On Janis's urgings, Cady infiltrates the Plastics, and her mission becomes personal when the Plastics leader, Regina (Rachel McAdams), stabs Cady in the back.

"Mean Girls" is indeed an exaggerated version of reality, but its depiction of the brutality and ridiculousness of high school and the need to find and stay true to oneself within a social construct manage to ring true. It does not stray away from or gloss over the dark humor that high school inevitably draws out nor is it apologetic in its over-the-topness. The result is a hilarious, well-written/performed film that is unpredictable and worth seeing.

Lindsay Lohan shows us once again that not only is an actress with range and a deft comedienne, she is also extremely likable and charismatic. Other stand-out performances go to Caplan and Franzese as well as Tina Fey (who plays a teacher), Amanda Seyfried (as one of the Plastics, Karen), and McAdams. McAdams, probably best known as the title character in "The Hot Chick", is an actress who continues surprise me with her great comedic skills (don't believe me? Watch her deleted scenes from "The Hot Chick" DVD. I liked them better than the whole movie!!).

All in all, this flick is great fun and more well-done than might be initially expected!