Rating: 

The Info

Directed by: Darren Stein
Written by: Darren Stein
Starring by: Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz, Judy Greer, Chad Christ, Ethan Erickson, Charlotte Roldan, Carol Kane, Pam Grier
Produced by: Stacy Kramer, Lisa Tornell
 

The Nutshell

A group of high school girls accidentally kill their friend and try to cover it up.

The Review

    Back in the eighties, a little film came out called Heathers. In it, a teenager kills his girlfriend and tells his friends about it. His friends eventually see the body and believe him, but not one actually calls the police. Heathers caused a bit of a stir back then for its portrayal of uncaring, unemotional teenagers. It hit a nerve. In the light of recent high-school killings in both the U.S. and here in Canada, I think the makers of Heathers had it totally right.

    As with any other good idea in Hollywood, and lots of bad ones as well, Heathers has been copied. Newcomer Darren Stein's Jawbreaker attempts to cross Heathers with another popular teen movie, Clueless and it doesn't work. In fact, it stinks.

    Rose McGowan is Courtney, the leader of the most popular group of girls in her school. The group has a tradition where they play some kind of prank on their friends when it is their birthday. Well, it is Liz Purr's birthday, and an attempted joke kidnapping goes horribly wrong when she dies from getting a large jawbreaker stuck in her throat. Courtney and company decide to hide her body in the trunk of a car and make it look like a rape/murder after school, since Liz's parents have gone away for the weekend. The ensuing problems, guilt attacks, quick decisions and emotional breakdowns are all to be expected.

    So little works in Jawbreaker that it is difficult to decide where to begin. One main problem is the film's tone. It can't decide whether to be purely funny or partly serious. It is possible to mix comedy and other movie genres and have a hit, just look at Bride of Chucky and Scream (comedy and horror), or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Pulp Fiction (comedy and violence). This fim, however, tries to mix comedy and a very serious subject. Scenes in which various characters are completely wracked with guilt are intermingled with scenes of absolute (attempted) comedy and the result is off-putting.

    Every actor and actress in this film should be ashamed. The acting is consistently way overdone by everyone. Instead of capturing the essence of how teenagers talk, everyone basically copies Alicia Silverstone's performance from Clueless, with pathetic results. Carol Kane must have needed some money badly to take her role as the school's Principal, and Pam Grier wastes the small comeback that Jacke Brown gave her by showing up as a detective trying to figure out who killed Liz. McGowan proves once and for all that she is nothing more than a great body and the only cast member who manages a single bit of interesting acting is Judy Greer, who is turned by Courtney from the pathetic loser Fern Mayo, into the incredibly popular Vylette. Her transformation from outcast to school leader occurs in stages, and Greer ably manages to take us along step by step.

    The final problem with Jawbreaker is the awful script. Virtually nothing anyone says is funny, and considering that this is supposed to be a comedy, that's a really bad sign. The things that various characters do to conceal their guilt are ridiculous and impossible, and the fact that the police can't figure out that it was Courtney and friends that did it is the final straw. No, actually, the final straw was including Marilyn Manson in a 10 second bit as the greasy stranger who has sex with Courtney. I know they are a real-life couple, but what was the point, except to show us that he is truly ugly even without the makeup? This film is an abomination and should never have been made. Anyone looking for an answer to why their teenager seems so distant and unemotional should go rent Heathers instead of going to see this tripe.

Copyright - Tim Chandler

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