Before it arrived in theaters, \Mean Girls"" seemed like a bad mix. In one corner, there was director Mark Waters, re-teaming with young star Lindsey Lohan, to follow up the strong ""Freaky Friday."" In the other corner, there was Tina Fey, head writer of ""Saturday Night Live,"" slated to adapt Rosalind Wiseman's book and co-star in the film. But instead of an ugly joining of forces, the collaboration between the two camps has turned out to be another triumph for Waters and Lohan and a renaissance of freshness for Fey.
The movie stars Lohan as Cady, a teenage girl entering high school for the first time after being home-schooled in Africa. Entering an unfamiliar social landscape in the States, Cady is quickly taught the divide between social cliques by a pair of friendly outcasts. But then she is taken in by the ""Plastics,"" an elitist trio of popular, trend-setting, mean girls. And what begins as an attempt to shatter their superiority quickly evolves into Cady becoming just like them.
Lohan and Waters both shine in ""Mean Girls."" Lohan proves she is a genuine star. Like in ""Freaky Friday,"" she carries herself with poise, humor and accessible warmth. And this time, Jamie Lee Curtis isn't there to steal the show, so Lohan gets to demonstrate she can carry a movie by herself. Meanwhile, Waters brings back his crisp visual style, leaving the actors room to act and thoughtfully handling the movie's various gags.
The strength of Fey's work in the movie is downright shocking. Under her supervision as head writer, ""SNL"" peaked in the 2000-'01 season, only to hit rock bottom soon after. The past three years, the show has consisted almost entirely of worn-out celebrity humor and crass, hateful, redneck jokes. She has also taken over ""Weekend Update,"" on which she regularly flubs jokes and is outshined by the middling talent of co-anchor Jimmy Fallon.
But in ""Mean Girls,"" she shines as both writer and performer. Her writing still relies on several stereotypes, but they are well executed and utilized. Her script is funny and insightful, if not shockingly original in its message. And her performance as a math teacher and positive female role model is spot-on.
The supporting cast is a mixed bag otherwise. It is littered with past and present ""SNL"" cast members. Some of them work expectedly well, like Ana Gasteyer playing Cady's mother; some work surprisingly well, like Tim Meadows as the school's principal; and some work expectedly badly, like Amy Poehler, who shows her usual insipid, grinning anti-charm. The non-""SNL"" supporting actors are generally well cast, too. The ""Plastics"" are perfectly played, most notably by group leader Rachel McAdams (""The Hot Chick"").
The movie does have flaws. The last third is a rather heavy-handed and unfunny morality play, and it is weird for a movie whose theme marginalizes popular, good-looking, heterosexual white kids to have a narrative that marginalizes everybody else instead. But in the end, ""Mean Girls"" is a breath of fresh air. It is a great effort from the principal players and a movie whose humor and values will resonate even with a jaded college crowd.
