Blyss's Movie Review for:
Main Cast of Characters:
Winona Ryder...........Veronica Sawyer
Kim Walker.........Heather Chandler
Lisanne Falk..........Heather McNamara
Shannen Doherty.........Heather Duke
Christian Slater..........Jason Dean
Patrick Labyorteaux...........Ram Sweeney
Lance Fenton...........Kurt Kelly
Sherrie Wills...........Courtney
Renée Estevez...........Betty Finn
Jeremy Applegate...........Peter Dawson
Glenn Shadix...........Father Ripper
Bill Cort...........Mr. Sawyer
Kirk Scott...........Big Bud Dean
Penelope Milford...........Counselor Pauline Fleming
1989. Rated: R. Genre: Comedy; Thriller; 119 minutes
The extreme always manages to make an impression...
"Heathers" is the classic tale of tawdry cliques and the psychos that live within the school system. Veronica Sawyer has one dream: to be an exclusive member of the "Heathers" clique at school. She and the Heathers: Chandler, McNamara, and Duke, all play croquet very frequently at her house. Veronica thinks of her "friends" badly but seems to want to do anything to be popular. She has a high I.Q. and can copy anyone's handwriting which Heather Chandler, leader of the Heathers, uses to her own bidding. Veronica wants to be in this group so bad that she will do anything Heather Chandler says, including forging a fake love note from football star Kurt Kelly to unpopular hefty, Martha Dunstock. When Martha is laughed out of the cafeteria after presenting the note to Kurt, Veronica feels horrible. That day, her dreams begin to change as Veronica meets new student, Jason Dean. Jason is suave and mysterious and that is a total turn-on for Veronica who is used to the usual boring variety of high school boy. He gives a wonderful answer to Heather and Veronica's lunchtime poll and the two football players are jealous of him with Heather and Veronica. Heather Chandler takes Veronica to a "Remington University party" that night. On the way there, Veronica meets back up with Jason and they get along great. She goes to the party with Heather but is not ready to consume as much alcohol as she does or sleep with the college men who think that is all that she is there for. She ends up puking at Heather's feet and then running away. Heather finds her outside and tells her that her stint with the Heathers is over and they are going to make her life hell. Jason comes over that night and makes Veronica feel better. He agrees that Heather deserves to die for what she has done to Veronica. Veronica says she wishes she could see Heather puke her guts out and Jason wants to make it happen. He and Veronica sneak into Heather's house the next morning to make a fake "hangover remedy". Jason jokes around with some drain cleaner and Veronica mixes orange juice and milk in another cup for the joke. Veronica picks up the wrong cup though, Jason knows it and does not stop her. Heather drinks the cleaner and dies. Jason then talks Veronica into writing a suicide note in Heather's handwriting and the letter he composes is perfect...or a little too perfect. Veronica begins to suspect that he has done this before. But she can't resist him or helping him.......
"Heathers" is one of my all-time favorite 80's movies! I fell in love with it the minute I watched it. What is strange is that even though the movie appears silly with the clique, that is the way it was and probably still is at the school where I attended. This movie accentenuates how the popular take advantage of the not-so-popular and what some of the non-popular kids feel compelled to do to get even. Veronica really doesn't seem to have an excuse: except for her obsession with Jason. After I had met Jason's father and how they reacted with each other, I would have known something was wrong.
There also seemed to be a lot of symbolism in this film which I enjoyed. For instance, the colors. Each Heather always dressed in the same color everyday. McNamara wore yellow and seemed to be second in line to Chandler. Duke wore blue and seemed to be the third rung on the ladder. Chandler wore red because she was the leader and red seemed to be the dominant color in this film. Veronica did not have a color and therefore did not have status until Chandler died and Duke took over the "red" color. Veronica then took Duke's place on the social scale as "third rung". Also, there seemed to be symbolism in the bombs that "J.D." and his father set. To Big Bud Dean, bombs and explosives represented power and his dominance over others. To J.D., it seemed killing made him feel the same way but explosives and bombs made him think of different things than his father. The bombs and explosives only remind J.D. of pain and guilt because of the way his mother died. It was never determined but it seemed that J.D. thought his dad may have had something to do with his mother's death. If his father hadn't been so crazy, he would have realized that his son needed counseling and not encouragement in his own destructive path.
I realize this was a comedy but he dark side of it had to be examined. One thing that really bothered me about this film was the loose way in which Veronica's parents treated and disciplined her. She virtually had no discipline and they let her get away with anything. That is probably why she turned to J.D. like she did. I would have liked to have seen her relationship with her parents explored a little more. They could not have been that stupid. Overall,......
I rate this film: 7
Blyss