Mark Waters, 2004
7.5
i was expecting a bit more from this film. the reviews pretty much all agreed that this was more than just a teenage film. but my problem with it was that i rarely saw it as a whole film. it was more a succession of (variably successful) scenes to me. but the performances bring the film up a full notch or two. they were incredible. the casting was mind-boggingly perfect! almost every character was so full of life -- especially Rachel McAdams as queen bee Regina George (ha! a canadian! and not a 19 year-old actress either. that's refreshing). so fucking amazing. the other stellar standout, but this just seemed to come out of the personal charm and ease of the actor, was actor Daniel Franzese. your attention just turns to him whenever he's on-screen. (fuck! he's appearing in Spielberg's War of the Worlds next!! now that's power. he was in Bully? i guess i can remember him, yeah.) Lacy Chabert was also really good. btw, i'm not trying to find something good to say about the film, i was really blown away by the performances. it's not necessarily that they were complex and awfully nuanced characters (although they weren't one-dimensional, that's for sure), it's that everyone just fearlessly went all-out with their performances. that was refreshing. especially for something that could have easily been just another hack teenage films. i wasn't too caught up and invested in Lindsay and her friends' various adventures, but the performances were more than enough to keep my interest throughout.
Posted by Anonymous | 10:38 AM
