Blyss's Review For:
Main Cast of Characters
Alicia Silverstone.............Cher Horowitz
Brittany Murphy........Tai Fraiser
Stacey Dash.......Dionne Davenport
Jeremy Sisto..........Elton Tiscia
Paul Rudd.........Josh Lucas
Donald Faison.........Murray Duvall
Dan Hedaya........Mel Horowitz
Breckin Meyer........Travis Birkenstock
Justin Walker........Christian Stovitz
Wallace Shawn........Mr. Hall
Twink Caplan........Miss Geist
Elisa Donovan........Amber Mariens
Julie Brown........Millie Stoeger
1995. Rated PG-13. Genre: comedy; 97 minutes
"She is so completely clueless!"
Right now, Cher Horowitz's biggest problem is making sure her clothes match each and every day for high school. Her friend Dionne, Dionne's boyfriend, Murray. and Cher are all the most popular kids at school. Cher's father is an attorney and she argues her way through most anything. She tries to manipulate her grades through arguing but it does not work with the debate teacher, Mr. Hall. Her father is not happy but Cher is persistant in getting the grades changed. Her ex-stepbrother Josh Lucas stops by and talks for a while. He tells Cher that she should use her popularity for something useful. So Cher takes it upon herself to fix up Mr. Hall and Ms. Geist so that it will benefit her grades improving. It works. A little after that, she meets a new girl named Tai Fraiser and she is determined that her and Di will make this girl popular because she is so 'clueless'. They teach Tai about the rules of popularity and who she can and cannot date. They really don't let her be herself and Tai seems to be constantly looking for her Romeo. Will Cher and Di break the group code and let Tai date who she wants or will Tai remain utterly clueless this whole movie? Watch and find out.
If you really hate the teen movie scene that all films seemed to be going through for a while, this is not the movie for you. With the exception of the parents and the teachers, there are really no grown ups involved, all teens. The lingo can get a bit annoying with "duh!" and "whatever!" being uttered more often than it should. However, it does touch on some of the issues that most kids do have to deal with such as group peer pressure, drugs, and drinking. The only problem is that it made drugs look glamorous at the party that Cher and Tai attended. It made it look like there were no repercussions if you wanted to go out and have a drink at sixteen or seventeen years old and smoking a joint or getting "baked" as Cher so eloquently puts it, was just a common thing.
One thing that was so confusing was the popular group's acceptance of some groups and not others. How did they decide who was popular? Why were some people includd like Tai and Christian and others were not, like Travis? If anything, I would have thought that Tai and Christian would not have been in the "in" crowd because of their clothes taste and lifestyle choices.
One thing that bothered me throughout this entire film is that Cher and Di did not want Tai to think for herself. They were constantly trying to think for her and everytime they did, Tai ended up getting her feelings hurt somehow. Then when she would think for herself and try to choose a guy that she thought she had a lot in common with, they would discourage her. It's like "Think what the group thinks and don't think for yourself."
I know what you are probably saying at this point. Come on, Blyss, it's a comedy. Well, high school is only high school but it can still affect a lot of people in a lot of ways. Yes, it's a comedy but it truly does illustrate what one has to go through to be popular and you have to ask: is it worth it?
But on a less serious note, let's see....my favorite scene in this movie would have to be when Dionne is driving and accidentally gets on the freeway. Watching them scream and carry on like they did sent me rolling into fits of laughter when I first watched this movie. It's a good once in a while film but not one I could watch everyday...like whatever!
I rate this movie: 7
Blyss