'Clueless' - Review

Here is a situation where I can almost guarantee you've been in before. Imagine this, you are hanging out with one of your friends and they bring up one of their favorite movies which you have never seen before. The classic, "What?! You've never seen that!" response comes next and sometimes it's followed up by the "Okay, we're watching this right now!" phrase. A couple of years ago, this situation happened to me. A friend and I were having a Disney movie night full of classics like The Lion King, A Goofy Movie and...Clueless?

Yes, you read that correctly. That conversation happened that night after my friend had found out that I had never seen Clueless before. And although it was a Disney themed movie night, we decided to label it a 90s movie night and finished our evening with Clueless. I fell in love. There is something about 90s teen comedies that just draws me to them. What's even crazier is that when I got home and was surfing the web, I came across Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" music video which parodies scenes from the movie. Couldn't have timed that one better huh? Maybe that was the universe telling me, "Okay, Brandon. Clueless will now become one of your favorite movies."

This film works because, although very dated, it is a great social satire on life in high school. Everyone had their cliques, and this movie showcased how teenagers prioritize their image and status as opposed to grades and such. However, social satire about high school life had been done before this movie (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, etc.) and films would come out years later and tackle the same issues (American Pie,Mean Girls, etc.) So what makes this film stand apart from all those films I just listed? The biggest reason is in my eyes is Cher played by Alicia Silverstone.

She, along with the rest of the cast, deliver some of the wittiest dialogue I have ever seen in a teen movie. And while I didn't go to high school in the 90s, the subtextual nature of lines like, "Why do I need to learn how to park? Everywhere you go has valet." I find truly fascinating because I don't know any other movie characters that speak like this. This plays into Alicia Silverstone's wheelhouse perfectly because she can play the ditsy, blonde, Californian shopaholic better than anyone (except for perhaps Reese Witherspoon). When your movie is going to have that type of character in your leading role, you have to make sure she is likable because the wrong actor or wrong type of performance could leave your teen comedy dead in the water. Luckily for us, Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, and others all fit their parts perfectly and can deliver this witty, smart and funny dialogue with ease.

Cher even has a rant in the middle of the movie about how guys dressed in 1995. It really doesn't have anything to do with the story, but it fits her character so it's welcomed and gets some laughs. This movie knew that style wasn't going to last, unfortunately, Dionne didn't get the message about some of her hat choices.

The plot, on paper, is almost the exact same as Mean Girls except told from the point of view of this film's Regina George. Cher and Dionne decide to help the "clueless" new girl into the world of popularity only to create a monster showing our main characters how terrible they have been treating others all this time. Now, this film did come out first so I am not accusing this film of stealing, just beware that there now exists two films with very similar plot lines. The good news is that this film truly stands out from the crowd because of the dialogue and its unique sense of humor. Being born in 1995, I just missed the 90s, but I am glad I have movies like Clueless so I can re-live a past I never had (I grew up in the Superbad, EasyA, ProjectX era of teen movies). While it won't have you on the floor laughing, it will make you smile from start to finish.

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