Mean Girls
Ages: PG-13

Mean girls - a subject that is too often experienced in real school situations, has been the topic of various sociological/psychological studies. The new Blu-ray release draws upon Rosalyn Wiseman's research, Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and the Other Realties of Adolescence but the story is all Tina Fey - yes the Sara Palin look-alike from Saturday Night Live.

Home schooled and brought up in the wild by her two zoological parents, Cady encounters an new kind of survival of the fittest - in this case the ruling clan of the Queen Bee. Cady's first friends are Damian (Daniel Franzese) and Janis (Lizzy Caplan), two fringe-like outsider characters, but soon she is invited to join The Plastics - the name says it all. Spurred on by Janice, she joins just to find out their inner secrets. Unfortunately she becomes infected with their values and has to go through some soul searching to come back to her responsible, nice, honest self.

Tina Fay plays the witty manic teacher and has all the best lines - probably because she wrote the script. Rachael McAdams takes on the role of Regina, the meanest of the mean, and does an admirable job. Lindsay Lohan has such winsomeness coming through that she's bound for more of the good-girl roles.

The meatiest of the extras is the commentary by director Mark Waters and Tina Fey where they explore the selection process and interview all the actors in the cast. The Politics of Girl World elicits worrisome comments from the girl cast about how competitive and mean girls are, that there is no room for weakness - work hate is used a lot.

The movie doesn't delve into the meanness issue in a meaningful way. It is easily watchable but not memorable movie.

Fun Factor: An easy-going movie about a serious problem.
Female Factor: The whole cast does a splendid job

Reviewed by: Editor - 04/09