Clueless

"Isn't my house classic? The columns date all the way back to 1972."

When romantic high-school comedy Clueless (1995) was released, it was immediately vaulted into cult-status and firmly stapled as one of the most original teen-flicks of the 1990s. 'Original' is perhaps a term wrongly applied since it is based on the queen of romance Jane Austen's Emma (1815) . But what Clueless did was update the classic story by coating it with high school drama, teenage girls and shopping and sprinkle it with heavy doses of humour.

Emma is no longer Emma; she is Cher (Alicia Silverstone), a spoiled rich girl walking around in her Beverly Hills mansion in a bubble of stereotypes and teen-clichés -- but with a great big heart. So big-hearted, in fact, that she takes on the lost goofy new girl in her school to find her love and popularity, knowing full-well that it could destroy her own reputation. Clueless thus sees Cher and her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) on a mission to do good. Real good.

All the detours this mission entail are captured brilliantly in the film, taking the form of love-interests, parties, shopping and misunderstandings. From Cher's grumpy lawyer-father (an hilarious Dan Hedaya) and her nerdy step-brother (a likable Paul Rudd) to her eccentric group of friends at school, Clueless is a superb ride of teenage comedy camp. Only just over 10 years old, it is still extremely dated today. But no matter, because the 90s clichés like skateboarding, Marky Mark and the catch-phrase "As if" just make it so much more contemporary and fun to watch.

What elevates Clueless (1995) above generic high school comedy is its use of stereotypes. In most films they are unintentionally there to create a subconscious effect, but in Clueless they are made fun of to a much higher degree -- they are overblown and glorious. It brutally satirizes rich kids and their 'problems' and juxtaposes them with a classic, heart-felt love-story. The kind that only Jane Austen can write.

9/10

This movie is another one of those feel good pictures you can't go wrong with. It's light and breezy like cruising the boulevard with the top down and it offers lots of laughs to boot.

Amy Heckerling has brought us another winner with a great supporting cast. A young teenage girl coming of age in of all places, Beverly Hills. The lead character, "Cher" played brilliantly by Alicia Silverstone, is a self centered high school girl in the beginning of the picture who's only interests include clothes, cars and credit cards. As the film progresses, she begins to mature and actually begins to care about other people, not to mention her environment. It's worth renting anytime. Just like "European Vacation" it doesn't matter how many times you see it, it still makes you laugh and that's worth it all.

This movie is way above so many of the others of its' kind. It's consumately likable, funny, sweet and sharp- the script is a killer, and the acting is fun and enjoyable.

Part of the success of the film is due to the fact that it appeals to several different audiences, and on multiple levels.

I first watched this movie with my mom, who loved the link it has to Jane Austen's Emma- all the main characters and the plot are direct modern equivalents to the novel. For instance, the famous passage in Emma inwhich Harriet burns all her "mementos" of Mr. Elton becomes the scene where Tai does so infront of Cher's gasfire. From this perspective alone, the movie is so fun and sharp to watch- even if your forte isn't usually American Teen High School comedy!

But this movie works on a really dumbed down scale too- let's face it, not everyone is big on English literature. The movie has an awesome soundtrack, Paul Rudd is unbelievably cute as "Mr Knightly" or rather Josh- and my boyfriend leads me to believe that the same is true of Alicia Silverstone- who still sparkles 10 years later as a mid-nineties teen queen with good intentions, Cher. Her performance here is impossible not to warm too, unless you have some sort of grudge against Valley girls, inwhich case you might not like it so much. Seriously though, this film is a must see for anyone who likes some real quality comedy- I'm so fond of this film personally that I would suspect basically everyone would enjoy it.

"Let's set 'Emma' in a modern high school!" Does this sound the obvious kind of movie gimmick that everyone uses nowadays? Perhaps, but it's an inspired idea all the same. Jane Austen's characters, and her readers, and the society in which her novels are set, like Jane Austen herself, are HEAVILY conscious of class and social standing. No atmosphere quite so snobbish exists in the modern world. EXCEPT, that is, in the corridors and courtyards of the right kind of high school. And where else in the modern world would you find so many people who seem to spend all their time calling on one another?

I was reminded of how well Heckerling moulded "Emma" to fit a modern setting when I saw the idiotic 1998 version of "Great Expectations", adapted by someone who somehow failed to notice how important all the stuff about class and snobbishness was. It's clear that Heckerling understood her source. She isn't afraid to make changes - even radical changes, if the modern setting requires as much - and no character exists MERELY because they have an analogue in Austen's novel. (The most crucial thing is that the Emma-equivalent be sufficiently charming; and so she is.) The result is a film which is winning and satisfying, whether or not you know anything about the source material.

Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is a popular ditz at her local high school in Beverly Hills. She's a spoiled, pampered little princess with all the right social connections and endless wealth. However she has yet to find a man in her life - all the Baldwins (as she and her clique of friends call guys they like) have been taken.

When Cher receives a foreign exchange student, she takes her under her wing and decides to try and find her a boyfriend - ironically without having her own yet. Predictability ensues.

I read "Emma" in early high school as I'm sure most kids did, and the movie puts a clever spin on the tale. Alicia Silverstone is surprisingly good in her role, perfectly playing a blond bombshell without a brain but a good heart - only Reese Witherspoon has done such a good job recently at portraying the west coast bimbos. (No offense to the west coast bimbos out there.) The movie's director, Amy Heckerling, has always been rather reliable on the whole and her direction is solid here - she could have turned "Clueless" into a crude, unfunny sex comedy with little wit or brains, but instead she takes a rather dubious idea for a film and transforms it into a well-made, well-acted, funny, inspired, lively, witty satire.

Much better than expected.