Fifteen years ago Lindsay Lohan was an up-and-coming young actress in Hollywood and was making a name for herself in movies like The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday remakes. Then in 2004, she was offered the chance to play Cady Heron in the blockbuster hit, Mean Girls. The teen dramedy about high school cliques and popular kids versus nerds exaggerated the real-life drama most students face in high school but did so in a relatable and mildly humorous way. In honor of this terrific film's anniversary, Paramount Pictures has released the 15th-anniversary edition of the movie on Blu-ray.
Cady (Lohan) has always been homeschooled. Her parents are Anthropologists so she grew up in the wilds of Africa and was taught by them. However, that all changed when Cady's mother accepted a position as a university professor. Suddenly, Cady was on her way to her first day of junior year at a typical American high school. There she meets Janis (Lizzy Caplan; Cloverfield) and Damian (Daniel Franzese; I Spit on Your Grave) who give her the rundown of all the different "cliques" in the school. When "the plastics", the most popular girls in school, invite Cady to sit at their lunch table, Lizzy hatches a plan to get even with the stuck-up snobs.
She convinces Cady to infiltrate the plastics and learn all their dirty little secrets so they can destroy the popular girls. Regina (Rachel McAdams; The Vow), Gretchen (Lacey Chabert; Not Another Teen Movie) and Karen (Amanda Seyfried; Mamma Mia) take Cady under their wing, teaching her fashion and how to be popular and confiding in her about what they hate about each other and the rest of the kids in school. However, when the plan backfires, Cady finds herself the one being scorned by the rest of the school as one of the "Mean Girls", proving that high school is hell.
This is an all-star cast at the beginning of their careers and their talent is evident even at this early stage. Unfortunately, Lohan hasn't yet lived up to her potential as rumors of drug addiction hound her to this day. McAdams and Seyfried can probably point to Mean Girls as star-making roles and they have worked steadily in Hollywood ever since. The three of them, along with Chabert, have terrific chemistry making it entirely believable that they are frenemies. Supporting cast members, Tina Fey (30 Rock), Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Tim Meadows (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), and Jonathan Bennett (Cake Wars) all enhance the overall film with their performances.
The 1080p high-definition video quality is standard fare for a Blu-ray but isn't exceptional in any way. Details are clear and the color palette is clean but lacks a certain depth that would have made the clothing pop. The same can be said for the Dolby True-HD 5.1 audio. It is sufficient but does not bring a wow factor. The extras are ported over from a previous release and includes Audio Commentary with Director Mark Waters, Tina Fey, and producer Lorne Michaels, Only the Strong Survive, The Politics of the Girl World, Plastic Fashion, Word Vomit, Deleted Scenes, Interstitials, and Theatrical Trailer.
Mean Girls is reminiscent of 1988's Heathers though it doesn't pack the same kind of punch. However, as teen Dramedies go this is one of the better ones that doesn't dumb down the script to try to appeal to what filmmakers think is an ignorant audience. Fey's screenplay is excellent making this teen movie a cut above the rest.
If you already own the Blu-ray, no need to purchase this one but if you have yet to own it already, go out and buy the 15th-anniversary edition today.
Grade: A-
