Directed by Amy Heckerling
Starring Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Dan Hedaya, Wallace Shawn, Donald Faison, Justin Walker, Breckin Meyer and Jeremy Sisto
Teen movies. When I was a teen - which really doesn't seem like all that long ago, since I'm a member of a generation of overgrown man-children anyway - the cinema landscape was being peppered with these things. Classic boner comedies like American Pie (cutting out the 17,000 unnecessary sequels and reboots), Road Trip and Eurotrip were always fun destinations for Friday nights at the multiplex. Overall, I feel that a good film where a group of kids either goes on a cross-country trip or throws a big party is a necessity at least every few years. So go figure that this is one of the subgenres of film that has more or less completely vanished over the years. Because they're fun, and fun is something to be ashamed of and feel guilty about in 2021.
It struck me while watching Clueless - amazingly for the first time - that this particular film may have come out just a bit too early in my life. I wasn't interested in it at all upon release, since all of the resident popular girls in my grade immediately gravitated to it and I wanted nothing to do with anything that they were into. Yes, my days of being a general social outcast and dickhead go back pretty far. It's kind of a shame, because I think if I had seen the film in middle school, I likely would have really loved it. It's got Alicia Silverstone in her prime, and wow was she a looker back in the day. It's also got the type of dialogue that I can easily commit to memory and a rocking soundtrack of '90s pop rock.
Alas, despite all of those positives, the movie did not quite live up to the lofty expectations I had for it as a curmudgeonly 38-year-old man. Enough wishwash. Let's get to the plot.
Clueless is a film that has a very clear protagonist - Cher Horowitz (Silverstone), who might just be onscreen for every scene. Early on in the film, we learn essentially everything we need to know about this character via a series of comic vignettes that show us the daily life of this Beverly Hills high school student and an omnipresent voice-over that clues us in on all of the rest. Pun not intended. The character is a classic valley girl ditz, from the "as if" catchphrases that dot her speech to the very loud mid-'90s fashions. Her father Mel (Dan Hedaya) is a wealthy litigator, meaning that Cher lives in a gigantic mansion and has a tricked-out Jeep that she drives alone despite only having a learner's permit. Her best friend Dionne (the incomparably sexy Stacey Dash - and she still is!) is named after a fellow singer who now does infomercials. Since these are examples of dialogue that I remember after watching the movie, that speaks well for the quality of the conversation scenes.
Cher has a way with talking her way out of situations. There is an early dilemma in the film where the character receives a low grade that she feels she doesn't deserve. The script simultaneously shows its invention and contrivance in how she manages to improve the grade as she takes an interest in her unlucky-in-love nerdy teacher (Wallace Shawn, the man who once shared a dinner with Andre). Discovering that she is adept at playing match-maker, Cher decides to take an interest in some of the other characters in her life. In between the bouts of walking around, making voice-over quips and going shopping, of course.
First-time viewers initially get the impression that the title of the film comes from the character of Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy), frumpy new girl at school who becomes Cher's big project to work on. You know the classic cliche of the makeover montage sequence followed by the recipient of said makeover immediately becoming a knockout that everyone notices? This would be one of the forefathers of that cliche. Brittany and Dionne take Tai under her wing, and thus begins a series of romantic interludes as they try to hook Tai up with a popular classmate (Jeremy Sisto) and keep her away from the stereotypical skater boy (Breckin Meyer, an actor who somehow managed to play teens and college kids throughout the entire decade of the '90s) that she seems to match up with much better on paper. What the title ACTUALLY refers to is Cher herself, as she inserts herself into everybody else's business but has no clue about what she actually wants. Shakespearian, I tell ya. In execution, it's a rotating door of party scenes that all kind of feel a bit samey after a while, always accompanied by a catchy musical number designed to help sell that soundtrack album.
OK, kids, time for a patented Lick Ness Monster side rant. Whatever happened to soundtrack albums? And what is the deal with airline food (/Jerry Seinfeld)? Films used to be much more of an EVENT than they are now, and soundtracks were often a part of the movie experience. In these times, where 99% of films are referred to as "content," well-thought out soundtracks populated with new songs by current artists designed to be an additional source of revenue are unfortunately a thing of the past. It's yet another shame of modern cinema, because some of my favorite movies of all time had soundtracks that were a character in and of themselves. Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and The Karate Kid are movies that come to mind. Some films even took the next step, having a single artist do a single album - think Prince's amazing collection of Batman songs and the Dust Brothers' groovy Fight Club industrial score. The point? If done right, an enjoyable soundtrack that fits the atmosphere can do wonders to cement a film in the audience's mind, and this one is no different. Even if I'm not really that into the movie to begin with. Spoiler alert.
Before I get into my bitching points with Clueless, let's get to what I enjoyed about it (apart from the soundtrack). The film was written and directed by Amy Heckerling, a gifted comedienne who has produced other things I have enjoyed. I really like her earlier teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High with the exception of that weird rape-abortion subplot that is glossed over like it's no big deal and never mentioned again, and she definitely has a gift for writing funny dialogue. Clueless is filled with it, as characters come up with similes and metaphors that are about 30 IQ points above their heads. Not that I'm complaining; there's a ton of quotable lines to be had here. In addition, the acting is amazing with one notable exception. This was Silverstone's shot at the title in the mid-'90s, coming off a run as the MTV dream girl in Aerosmith's music videos. For a brief time following this film, she was THE babe of the moment in Hollywood. Dash is also great as the likable sidekick, as is Donald Faison as her boyfriend and the always aces Dan Hedaya as the father who has the line of the film. Hey, just because Sammy Davis Jr. died doesn't mean they're looking for a replacement in the Rat Pack.
My main issue with Clueless, as it is with so many of the other films in this project that I haven't been as fond of, is one of structure. As the movie enters its second half, it veers off in far too many subplots and directions that don't go anywhere. As Cher looks at her handiwork, all of whom seem to be so much happier than herself, she decides to get in on the action and look for a boyfriend. This is where we get the aforementioned Rat Pack wannabe, and this character is unnecessarily goofy and over-the-top. It's also where Paul Rudd becomes much more involved in the film. I've liked Rudd in other things, especially as the misanthropic asshole in Wet Hot American Summer, but I didn't like him at all here. Romantically, he also has less than zero chemistry with Silverstone. Like, we're talking Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman levels of chemistry here. As a result, the film's ending sequences comes across really flat. Oh, and the voice-over. I liked it at first, but the CONSTANT voice-over got grating to me after awhile. Mall speak tolerance has reached critical mass.
Rating time: ** 1/2 out of ****. There are parts of Clueless that I simply adored, and lines that I'll remember for the rest of my life. From a story standpoint, though, it's kind of a mess. Tighten this script up just a little bit and you've got an A+ film right here. With a soundtrack album on repeat.
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