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Notes:
Raised in the African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron thinks she knows about "survival of the fittest." But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when the home-schooled 15-year-old enters public high school for the first time and falls prey to the psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teenage girls face today.
Comedy - It's a teen comedy but it's not as crude as most. The sexual
content and toilet humor are fairly minimal and the humor is of the
type that should appeal to a wider audience.
PROFANITY: F-word wasn't said but used word F-ing once. 23 other words. SEX/NUDITY: Some sexual talk but no nudity or sexual activity. VIOLENCE: None DRUGS/ALCOHOL: One party scene with drinking. ACTION: None COMEDY: LOTS of chuckles and many big laughs and not just for teens.
The above rating is an average of the critic reviews below.
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Berardinelli, Internet CriticFull Review Above Average Somewhere in the closing half-hour, "Mean Girls" gives up on being a comedy and decides to morph into a traditional teen movie, complete with a moral about the value of true friendship and the need to be oneself. The limp climax doesn't undo the solid humor, wicked social commentary, and delicious satire that precedes it, but it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. In the end, "Mean Girls" isn't mean enough.
Roger EbertFull Review Good In a wasteland of dumb movies about teenagers, "Mean Girls" is a smart and funny one. It even contains some wisdom, although I hesitate to mention that lest I scare off its target audience.
USA TodayFull Review Good "Girls," which gets funnier as it goes, is his (producer Lorne Michaels') best since 1992's "Wayne's World" and a sparky follow-up for Lohan and director Mark Waters to last year's PG-rated "Freaky Friday." But this time, the tone is a long way from Disney, even if both movies are alike in having titles that quickly sum up their comic sensibilities and suggest promise that's delivered.
Note: The rating
above is our interpretation of what the critic would give this movie based on
their review. We are not affiliated with these critic's in any way.
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DETAILED OPINIONS
The positive and negative comments made by moviegoers are very
helpful when selecting a movie that's appropriate for you and your family.
OPINION OVERVIEW The following is the original "What's Worth
Watching" write-up for this movie.
Moviegoer Opinions:
We collected 103 moviegoer opinions. Teen females, the target audience, LOVED "Mean Girls." Nearly half rated it "Fantastic" and virtually none disliked it. For teen females I HIGHLY RECOMMEND "MEAN GIRLS."
The opinions drop significantly as the females age rises, but three-quarters of these ladies still enjoyed "Mean Girls" very much and the remaining quarter rated it as an OK movie. Only a very few adult females actually disliked it. I still recommend "Mean Girls" to these older ladies, especially moms taking their teen daughters to see it.
As for the guys. There weren't very many of them to supply an accurate gauge, but the teen males enjoyed it nearly as much as the teen females. Twentysomething and adult males could easily skip this movie unless it's a dad taking his teenage daughter to see it.
Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is a cultural blank slate when she first sets foot
on the grounds of North Shore High School in a small town outside of Chicago,
Illinois. After living in Africa, Cady, now a junior, has no idea how
"wild" things can be in civilization until she crosses paths with one
of the meanest species of all - the "Queen Bee," who at this
particular high school is the cool and calculating Regina George (Rachel
McAdams).
But Cady doesn't just cross paths with this Queen Bee; she really stings her
when she falls for Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett). Now
Regina's set to sting back by pretending to still like Aaron so he won't go out
with Cady, all the while pretending to be her friend. With no choice but to use
the same M.O. to stay in the game, the "Girl World" one-upmanship
escalates until the entire school gets dragged into a first-class mean-fest.
Surrounded by jokes, mathletes, flaky teachers and subcultures galore, Cady
climbs up - and slides down - the harrowing social ladder of junior year, and
life in the jungle turns out to be cake compared to high school!
