Mean Girls
| Mean Girls | |
|---|---|
| File:Mean Girls movie.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Waters |
| Screenplay by | Tina Fey |
| Produced by | Lorne Michaels Tony Shimkin Louise Rosner Jill Messick |
| Starring | Lindsay Lohan Rachel McAdams Lizzy Caplan Lacey Chabert Amanda Seyfried Tina Fey |
| Cinematography | Daryn Okada |
| Edited by | Wendy Greene Bricmont |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | April 30, 2004 |
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $17 million[1] |
| Box office | $129,042,871[1] |
Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy-drama film directed by Mark Waters. The screenplay was written by Tina Fey and is based in part on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which describes how female high school social cliques operate and the effect they can have on girls. The film stars Lindsay Lohan and features a supporting cast of Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), and Lizzy Caplan. The film was produced by Saturday Night Live (SNL) creator Lorne Michaels. Screenwriter and co-star of the film, Tina Fey, was a longtime cast member and writer for SNL. The film also features appearances from SNL cast members Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer and Amy Poehler. This film marks Lohan's second collaboration with director Mark Waters, the first one being Freaky Friday (2003).
The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $129,042,871 worldwide. Mean Girls has been praised as one of Lohan's break-out film roles.[2] Mean Moms, a quasi-spin-off, based on Wiseman's second book, Queen Bee Moms & King Pin Dads, was in development in 2010.[3]
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (June 2012) |
Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is the 16-year-old homeschooled daughter of zoologist parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn). They have returned to the US after residing in Africa for many years. Cady is unprepared for her first day of public high school. With the help of Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese), Cady learns about the various cliques. She is warned to avoid the school's most exclusive clique, the Plastics, the reigning trio of girls led by the queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams). The Plastics take an interest in Cady, inviting her to sit with them at lunch and go shopping with them after school. Upon realizing that Cady has been accepted into the Plastics, Janis hatches a plan to get revenge on Regina, using Cady to infiltrate the Plastics.
Having ingratiated herself with the Plastics per Janis' plan, Cady learns about the "Burn Book", a top secret notebook of Regina's filled with vicious rumors, secrets, and gossip about all the other girls (and teachers) in their class. Cady soon falls in love with Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), whom Regina successfully steals back from Cady in a fit of jealousy. Hurt and frustrated, Cady continues with Janis' plan which involves cutting off Regina's "resources", which include separating her from her boyfriend Aaron, destroying her beauty, and turning Regina's fellow Plastics, insecure rich girl Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) and sweet but ditzy Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), against her. At first, the trio's plans backfire, and worse, even increases Regina's popularity. Cady then starts feigning failure at math to get Aaron's attention and soon choreographs Aaron's breakup with Regina by confessing Regina's infidelity with another boy. Cady also tricks Regina into eating high-calorie nutrition bars (called Kälteen) by claiming that they actually help one lose weight. She also turns Gretchen against Regina by making her think Regina thinks of Cady as a better friend instead of her. In her efforts to get revenge on Regina, Cady gradually loses her individual personality and remakes herself in the image of Regina. Her act soon becomes reality and she becomes as spiteful as Regina, abandoning Janis and Damien in the process and focusing more on her image.
Regina strikes back, spreading the entire contents of her Burn Book around the school, inciting a riot. To avoid suspicion, Regina also inserts a fake slander of herself in the book in order to focus blame on Cady, Gretchen, and Karen. The riot is eventually quelled by Principal Duvall (Tim Meadows). Math teacher Ms. Norbury (Tina Fey), who also appeared in the Burn Book in which Cady slandered her by saying that she sold drugs, makes the girls realize that all of them are guilty of hurting their peers. She has each girl confess and apologize to the rest of the girls. When Janis' turn came, Regina made an insulting joke about her sexuality, to which the crowd laughs at. Janis retaliates by confessing her plan to destroy Regina with Cady's help and openly mocks Regina with the support of the entire school. Regina storms out, pursued by an apologetic Cady, and gets hit by a school bus in her haste. Rumors circulate that Cady intentionally pushed Regina in front of the bus.
Now without friends, shunned by Aaron, and distrusted by everyone at school, even being distrusted by her own parents, Cady decides to make amends by taking full blame for the Burn Book. Though severely punished by her confession, her guilt dissolves and she returns to her old personality. As part of her punishment and her reformation, she joins the Mathletes, which Damien and Regina both described earlier as "social suicide," in their competition. There, Cady has an epiphany while competing against a very unattractive girl, realizing that even if she made fun of the girl's appearance it would not stop the girl from beating her.
At the Spring Fling dance, Cady is elected Spring Fling Queen, but in her acceptance speech, she declares her victory is meaningless: they are all wonderful in their own way and thus the victory belongs to everyone. As a symbolic gesture, she breaks her tiara and distributes the pieces to her classmates. Cady makes up with Janis and Damien, reconciles with Aaron, and reaches a truce with the Plastics.
The film ends with the Plastics disbanding by the start of the new school year: Regina joins the lacrosse team as a way to channel her anger positively, Karen becomes the school weather girl, Gretchen joins the "Cool Asians" clique and is their biggest follower, and Cady dates Aaron as well as hanging out with Damien, and Janis, who starts a relationship with Cady's fellow mathlete Kevin. Cady reflects that the "Girl World" she lives in is at peace.
Cast
- Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron
- Rachel McAdams as Regina George
- Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian
- Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners
- Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith
- Tina Fey as Ms. Sharon Norbury
- Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall
- Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels
- Daniel Franzese as Damien
- Amy Poehler as Mrs. George
- Ana Gasteyer as Betsy Heron
- Neil Flynn as Chip Heron
- Daniel DeSanto as Jason
- Rajiv Surendra as Kevin Gnapoor
- Diego Klattenhoff as Shane Oman
Production
Development
Once Tina Fey read Rosalind Wiseman's Queen Bees and Wannabes, she found it a funny book and called her Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels to say it would generate a good movie. Michaels contacted Paramount Pictures, who purchased the rights to the book. Once Fey agreed to write the script, she noticed the book lacked a plot and thus Fey needed to create an overarching plot, which brought much from her own high school experience - for instance, Janis is an amalgam of Fey herself and her "art freak" friends. The name Janis Ian is taken from a singer by that name; one of the songs on the soundtrack is by Janis Ian.[4]
Casting
Lindsay Lohan first read for Regina George, but since both the casting team felt she was what they were looking for in the actress who played Caddy, and Lohan considered the "mean girl" would harm her reputation, she agreed to be the protagonist. Rachel McAdams was cast as Regina because Fey felt McAdams being "kind and polite" made her perfect for such an evil-spirited character. Amanda Seyfried also read for Regina, and the producers instead suggested her for Karen due to Seyfried's "spacey and daffy sense of humor". Both Lacey Chabert and Daniel Franzese were the last actors tested for their roles. Lizzy Caplan was at first considered too pretty for Janis, to which Fey felt a "Kelly Osbourne-like actress" was necessary, but Caplan was picked for being the "most energetic". Fey wrote two roles based on fellow SNL alumni, Amy Poehler (whom Fey thought the producers would not accept for being too young) and Tim Meadows, and the cast ended up with a fourth veteran of the show, Ana Gasteyer.[4]
Filming
Though set on the North Shore of Chicago, the film was mostly shot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and Malvern Collegiate Institute.[5] Notable landmarks include the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall and Sherway Gardens.
Reception
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $24,432,195 in 2,839 theaters in the United States, ranking #1 at the box office. It is the best Lohan film debut at number one. By the end of its run, Mean Girls grossed $86,058,055 and $42,984,816 internationally, totaling $129,042,871 worldwide.[1]
Critical response
The film received positive reviews from critics: review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 83% "Certified Fresh" based on 167 reviews,[6] and a rating of 66 ("Generally favorable reviews") on Metacritic based on 39 reviews.[7]
The film was declared an instant success after its opening weekend made $24,432,195 from 3,339 theaters becoming the #1 film in America and averaging $8,606 per venue.[8] Mean Girls had a long life at the box office and finished its run with $86,058,055 in the United States making its worldwide total gross $129,042,871.[1]
In an interview about the film, Tina Fey noted, "Adults find it funny. They are the ones who are laughing. Young people watch it like a reality show. It's much too close to their real experiences so they are not exactly guffawing."[9] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "'Fetch' may never happen, but 2004's eminently quotable movie is still one of the sharpest high school satires ever. Which is pretty grool, if you ask me!"[10] In 2006, Entertainment Weekly also named it the 12th best high school movie of all time, explaining: "There was a time when Lindsay Lohan was best known for her acting rather than her party-hopping. Showcasing La Lohan in arguably her best role to date, this Tina Fey-scripted film also boasts a breakout turn by Rachel McAdams as evil queen bee Regina George (Gretchen, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen! It's not going to happen!). While Mean Girls is technically a comedy, its depiction of girl-on-girl cattiness stings incredibly true."[11]
Sequel
A direct-to-video sequel, Mean Girls 2, was aired on ABC Family on January 23, 2011, and released on DVD on February 1. The film is a stand-alone sequel, and the plot does not continue the story of the original film. The film is directed by Melanie Mayron and stars Meaghan Jette Martin and Jennifer Stone.
Accolades
The film received many award wins and nominations. The film was nominated for 13 Teen Choice Awards, winning four. The film was also nominated for four MTV Movie Awards, winning three of them.[12] The film was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[citation needed]
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Comedy Actress | Lindsay Lohan | Won |
| Choice Movie Breakout Actress | Lindsay Lohan | Won | ||
| Choice Movie Blush | Lindsay Lohan | Won | ||
| Choice Breakout Movie Star – Female | Rachel McAdams | Nominated | ||
| Choice Breakout Movie Star – Male | Jonathan Bennett | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie – Comedy | Nominated | |||
| Choice Movie Actress – Comedy | Rachel McAdams | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Blush | Rachel McAdams | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Chemistry | Lindsay Lohan & Jonathan Bennett | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Fight/Action Sequence | Nominated | |||
| Choice Movie Hissy Fit | Rachel McAdams | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Liar | Lindsay Lohan | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Sleazebag | Rachel McAdams | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance | Lindsay Lohan | Won |
| Breakthrough Female Performance | Rachel McAdams | Won | ||
| Best On-Screen Team | Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried | Won | ||
| Best Villain | Rachel McAdams | Nominated | ||
| Kids Choice Awards | Favorite Movie Actress | Lindsay Lohan | Nominated | |
| People's Choice Awards | Favorite Movie: Comedy | Nominated | ||
| WGA Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Tina Fey | Nominated |
Influences on pop culture
- Pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey expressed several times that she's a fan of the film, using some quotes from the film in several interviews, most notably on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2005 and in her official Twitter updates in 2009. Carey released the first single from her album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, called "Obsessed", which begins with an interlude quote where she says, "And I was like, 'Why are you so obsessed with me?'", a line said by Regina in the film. Carey's husband, Nick Cannon, debunked other theories and revealed the song was inspired by the film itself.[13]
Soundtrack
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    Link |
Mean Girls: Music from the Motion Picture was released on September 21, 2004, the same day as the DVD release.
Track listing
- "Dancing with Myself" by The Donnas (Generation X cover)
- "God Is a DJ" by Pink
- "Milkshake" by Kelis
- "Sorry (Don't Ask Me)" by All Too Much
- "Built This Way" by Samantha Ronson
- "Rip Her to Shreds" by Boomkat (Blondie cover)
- "Overdrive" by Katy Rose
- "One Way or Another" by Blondie
- "Operate" by Peaches
- "Misty Canyon" by Anjali Bhatia
- "Mean Gurl" by Gina Rene and Gabriel Rene
- "Hated" by Nikki Cleary
- "Psyché Rock" by Pierre Henry
- "The Mathlete Rap" by Rajiv Surendra
- "Jinge Bell Rock"
Though not included on the soundtrack, other songs heard in the film include "Pass That Dutch" by Missy Elliott, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, "Fire" by Joe Budden featuring Busta Rhymes, "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian, and "Halcyon + On + On" by Orbital.
The film's orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent and orchestrated by Tony Blondal. It featured taiko drums and a full orchestra.
Home media
Mean Girls was released on VHS and DVD in North America on September 21, 2004, five months after it opened in theaters. It was released in a widescreen special collector's edition and a fullscreen collector's edition, both including several deleted scenes, a blooper reel, three interstitials, the theatrical trailer, previews, and three featurettes. A Blu-ray version of the film was released on April 14, 2009.
Video game
A game for PC and Nintendo DS was released in 2009.[14] The video game features characters specifically created for the game.
References
- ^ a b c d "Mean Girls (2004) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
- ^ "Lindsay Lohan - CelebSpin.com profile". CelebSpin.com. Retrieved July 18, 2007.
Lohan's breakout role as a leading actress came six years later with 2004's Mean Girls
- ^ Graser, Marc; McNary, Dave (May 18, 2010). "'Mean Moms' headed for big screen". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
- ^ a b "Only the Strong Survive", Mean Girls, DVD Featurette
- ^ Wilmot, Shannon (11
July 2008). "Made in Toronto". Retrieved 17 September 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); line feed character in|date=at position 3 (help) - ^ Mean Girls at Rotten Tomatoes; Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Mean Girls at Metacritic; Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ "'Mean Girls' Topples 'Man'". E!. 2 May 2004.
- ^ Weekend warrior
- ^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84.
- ^ "50 Best High School Movies". Filmsite.org. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
- ^ "2005 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ Vena, Jocelyn; Kash, Tim (July 1, 2009). "Nick Cannon: Mariah Carey's Not Dissing Eminem In 'Obsessed'". MTV News. MTV. Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
- ^ "Mean Girls Game Capitalizes on Film's Popularity, Lohan's Career - games for girls". Kotaku. 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
External links
