Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 04/30/2004(USA)
Release Date: 09/21/2004
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DDS
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations, Alcohol Consumption
Distributor/Studio: Paramount
Tina Fey from
Saturday Night Live wrote and appears in this
comedy about the alternately funny and terrifying pecking order among teenage girls.
Cady Heron (
Lindsay Lohan) is a 15-year-old girl who has spent most of her life in Africa, where she was home-schooled by her zoologist parents. When her family relocates to the United States,
Cady finds herself attending a high school in suburban Illinois, where she gets a crash course in the various sub-strata of the student body: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the stoners, the "cool" kids, and so on. Much to her surprise,
Cady finds herself embraced by a clique of rich and popular girls known to outsiders as "the Plastics," led by
Regina George (
Rachel McAdams),
Gretchen Weiners (
Lacey Chabert), and
Karen Smith (
Amanda Seyfried). While
Cady is grateful for her new friends, it doesn't take long for her to realize how manipulative they can be, and she soon discovers she's violated an unwritten law when she goes out on a date with
Aaron (
Jonathan Bennett), who is charming, good looking...and
Regina's former boyfriend. It isn't long before
Regina and her pals are on the warpath, and
Cady must face a level of vengeful behavior for which years in the jungle never prepared her. Joining
Tina Fey in the supporting cast are fellow
SNL players
Amy Poehler,
Ana Gasteyer, and
Tim Meadows. The screenplay for
Mean Girls was based in part on
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence, a book by professional youth counselor
Rosalind Wiseman.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide