From a distance, "Mean Girls" may seem uneven and at times, even insipid (like the scene where the girl gets hit by the bus), but a second look at the film will reveal a brutally accurate as well as downright hilarious look at the plusses and perils of hell scho- er, high school.

16 year old Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) has had a great life. Her parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn) have raised her in Africa, where she can enjoy herself without the pressure of being a high school teenager in Suburban America. However, her world comes to a crashing halt when she learns she has to go to school in America now that her parents' studies are finished. Her firstd day at California naturally doesn't go very well. However, on her second day, she meets Janis Ian (Lizzie Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese). They befriend Cady and guide her the school's convoluted society. They also tell her the legend of the Plastics, aka the most popular and most hated girls in the whole school. Janis has a grudge toward the group's leader, Regina George (Rachel McAdams, so Janis has Cady infiltrate the Plastics by pretending to be one of them and reporting all their embarassing secrets to Janis and Damien. At first, the plan works like a charm: the Plastics accept Cady in their clique not knowing of the real plan, as they sabotage Regina's weight loss plan and her relationship with Aaron Samuels (forget who plays him). But slowly but surely, Cady gets deeper into the Plastics, so deep that she stops acting and becomes, subconsciously betraying her friends. The film culminates in a frenzy of catfighting and backstabbing that is at times that is a little cloying at times but overall is brilliant. And the ending perfectly wraps things up.

Unlike most teen films these days, it's the writing and the acting that keeps this film afloat. Lohan is dazzling as Cady, portraying her as a shy yet outgoing girl still learning the ropes of high school. Rachel McAdams plays Regina with a twisted sincerity yet still retains the cruel edge her character posseses. The supporting cast is equally strong. I'm not a big Tina Fey fan, but even I think she did a great job as Ms. Norbury, the teacher who helps Cady get through high school. Fey also did a brilliant job writing the script, and I wish she could use this brilliance down at "Saturday Night Live", where she's headwriter (the show isn't doing well now). Tim Meadows, albeit in a small part, does a great job as the principal. Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried are perfect as Regina's fellow plastics Gretchen and Karen. And Amy Poehler is hysterical as Regina's mom.

Overall, this is a classic teen comedy. Along with "Heathers" and "Clueless", this is probably one of the greatest teen comedies ever made.

this movie is great because it shows how snobby some girls can be and about surviving high school.it is smart mean and totally irrisistable.

...But this was girl world. All the fighting had to be sneaky."

For me, this was the funniest movie of 2004, and definitely one of the best. I was delighted by how high quality it was. It's painfully hilarious and has quite the Saturday Night Live vibe to it, no surprise there whatsoever, and the film is the better for it.

I've never seen a movie that takes such an honest look at high school and, without making it disturbing or "Animal House" out of control, unblinkingly reveals its many hellish and absurd traits (from not being able to go to the bathroom to lunchtime seating arrangements) and then turns it around and makes fun of it. It hits close to home, and right beneath the laughs are a lot of scared and hurting kids who build up a fragile, shallow world based on language, seating arrangements, and fickle relationships set up and shattered over stares and eyebrow movements, clothing choice, and hormones. The film takes all of this and turns it into a wickedly funny play of relationships, backstabbing, he said/she said, whispering, and cloak and daggering of entirely Shakespearean proportions. As Lohan's character enmeshes herself in this world, watching her downward spiral is outlandishly funny and as satisfying as anything, it's all so meaty and fantastical and Lohan kicks it into high gear. Nothing about this film is held back, it's all young energy and wild and free communal comedic bliss.

Aspects of the ending were predictable, but I honestly didn't care. Just a great, skewering, and down to earth movie. The satire and laughs simply don't stop. Tina Fey should have gotten an Oscar nomination for her screenplay, it's FUNNY, intuitive and actor friendly. Speakinf og thespians, this has fantastic acting by a deliciously talented ensemble. Lohan is surprisingly good, but she's not really what I'm talking about. It's all about Rachel McAdams, who shines as the evil but mesmerizing and even admirally unapolagetic Regina George, and she nails everything from broad comedy to nuance without acknowledging the camera's existence once. THAT is acting, making it look natural, no matter how crazy it is, and it's not exclusive to McAdams, everyone in this works that way. Her cronies and other supporting characters nimbly keep the film from ever becoming boring by fussing and clucking around in velied paranoia and hysteria or (specifically the adults, although not including Amy Poehler's character) fed up resignation. The actors just milk the script and damn near live it. Perfect acting.

The direction is so lively and vibrant for this one; it is SO good to see a film that feels like it's having fun and mix in some irreverence not only for the subject matter but for cinematic style, and without going overboard into "I'm so cool" territory, but just enough to shake things up a little and keep the viewer involved. And best of all, it doesn't ever sink low and sell out to the bubblegum crowd either. At the points where you think it might, it, in true SNL style, happily makes a mockery of the anticipated device.

Incredibly fun movie. It was so addictive, I watched it twice in a row.

Truth be known I usually try to avoid crap like this, but was drawn to it by the absolutely smokin' Lindsay Lohan. "Mean Girls" is similar to, but better than both "Heathers" and "Jawbreaker", mostly because the writing is good and fun, and Tina Fey did a great job with it. It does just boil down to 97 minutes of entertainment or flashback, but I did like it. And to get my real point across, Lohan is mmmmmmm!

I have to admit, Lindsay Lohan is super hot. That's one of the main reasons I saw this movie in the first place. I was pleasantly suprised to find a great movie that was very funny and very upbeat. It's definitely worth renting, and I personally bought it right away! There is a lot of humor, and even a happy and somewhat moral ending.