CLUELESS is one of the very few teen films made after 1992 that I liked and still like. Before this film came out, I liked the teen films of the '80s, THE BREAKFAST CLUB, FERRIS BUEHLER, SIXTEEN CANDLES, LUCAS, and WEIRD SCIENCE. As you can see, John Hughes directed most of these. Today, my teen movie likes are limited to the likes of CAN'T HARDLY WAIT, ENCINO MAN, AMERICAN PIE 1, and CLUELESS of course. I would have included ROAD TRIP but that's a college movie, right? And THE CRAFT??? I pretty much count that as straight up horror. As cute as I think Freddie Prinz, Jr. is, SHE'S ALL THAT was god-awful. NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE works for me because it parodies the "mess" CLUELESS started...
I love CLUELESS. I find it fresh and clever and hilarious to this day. Amy Heckerling, a hit (FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, CLUELESS) and miss (LOSER, the LOOK WHO'S TALKING movies) director, created pure perfection with CLUELESS. When she has the right material and inspiration, Heckerling is immensely gifted and extremely funny. Alicia Silverstone, whose mostly bland, pouty performance in HIDEAWAY was such a disappointment, absolutely sparkles as Cher Horowitz, teen princess extraordinaire. With her enormous blue eyes, perfect hair and enviously slender thighs peeking out tantalizingly above her thigh high stockings, she is a truly captivating study in sexuality and innocence combined. At once aware and oblivious to the feelings she stirs in the males around her, she knows she is beautiful, yet really has no real desire to tease or torment any of them. She dresses strictly for fashion's sake, and she lives in the world capital of fashion, Beverly Hills, CA.
So focused is Cher on fashion and friends, that she is only a so-so student. Like many of us, high school is a drag for her. Why study about European socialism when you're not planning on being a European socialist??? She doesn't watch the news all that much, but her effort to bring the plight of Haiti-ans to light in debate class is so sweet and sincere in its own way that her teacher Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn) is too bewildered to scold her too badly.
This is how the first 20 or so minutes flows. Cher doing her thing. The pace is strangely smooth because you're immediately in action with her. It's like you came to her house and are following her through her colorful world like a she is a tour guide. It almost seems like there is no plot at first. Cher and her good friends Dionne (the very pretty Stacey Dash), a BAP who wears even funner clothes than Cher herself; Murray (gut-splittingly funny cutie Donald Faison), a white-collar boy who pretends to be a blue-collah gangsta; Elton Tiscia (Jeremy Sisto), the dapper-dressed music lover and social director; and Amber Salk (Elisa Donnovan...I wonder if I've ever spelled her last name right???), whose relationship with Cher could be described equal parts buddy and nemesis.
Raised by her father Mel Hamilton (my FAVORITE character as played so beautifully by Dan Hedaya), Cher has learned to use all of her powers to negotiate. Where her father is a powerful lawyer who makes major duckets negotiating lawsuits, Cher is a powerful teenage girl who uses her wiles and weapons to arrange things so that they'll fall in her favor sooner or later. When her grades displease her father, she arranges romance between Mr. Hall and the adorable Ms. Geist (Twink Kaplan) in hopes that they'll be in better moods and not be so stingy with the A+'s. When a new student named Tai Frazier (Brittany Murphy) is enrolled in the posh school, her Jersey accent and Seattle clothing clash painfully with the bling-bling and the colorful miniskirts of Bronson-Alcott High School, and Cher takes Tai under her wing and makes her over. Believing herself to be a giving and generous soul, Cher is shocked to discover that her ex-stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd, cute as a button) is UNimpressed and thinks she is totally insincere and "99% selfish".
Determined to prove him wrong, wondering why he somehow has the ability to "get to her", Cher endeavors to find Tai the perfect boyfriend. Tai has been pretty chatty with sk8ter boi Travis (Breckin Meyer, also just too cute) and Cher hopes to steer her in a more appropriate direction with the newly single Elton, who is the only available "high school boy" Cher can recommend. Cher herself would never date Elton or any high school boy. Her reason is not revealed, but I got the feeling she believes herself "too mature" for them.
Poor Clueless Cher...while she is practically shoving Tai into Elton's face, hoping to spark up some major chemicals between them, she has no idea that Elton, whose affection to her is more than just gratitude for better grades and less homework, is seriously hot for her. When Elton tries to make his feelings public, the results are disastrous. It's hard for me not to feel some sympathy for Elton. While I don't condone abandonments in parking lots, I have to say he's misunderstood. He had such a crush on Cher, and in her fashion savvy innocence, she had no desire for such a relationship. He was snotty about Tai, but I think it was because he was so disappointed that Cher just didn't feel like he'd hoped she would.
Deciding to retire from the matchmaking biz, Cher focuses her peepers onto Christian Stovitz (Justin Walker), a stunningly beautiful and stylish student who dresses even better than Cher. For the first time, she considers changing her hymenally challenged state, but when she attempts to seduce him, she is shocked to learn that he is gay.
And the hits just keep on coming. Dionne and Murray, who have been in a long-term relationship, reach new levels of intimacy. Tai's popularity is eclipsing Cher's (God forbid!!!), and the worst??? Tai seems to be awfully chummy lately with Josh. Oh yeah, and not to mention Cher fails the driving test!!! Her inferiority complex is made worse by Tai's scathing comment, "You're a virgin who can't drive!!!"
Cher feels so bad that nothing can comfort her now. Her acts of kindness are regarded with scorn by Josh, her friends all have boyfriends, even Ambular, whom Cher thinks is a full-on Monet. She feels lonely and unsure of herself, and decides that she has been Clueless about what's really important in life. Maybe she's been wrong about a lot of things, maybe her crass treatment of people like Travis is coming back to haunt her???
Desperate to feel better about herself and everything in general, Cher decides to give her time to causes that are real. The whole school gets involved in the Pismo Beach Disater Relief effort, and it was nice to see Elton participating. Silly, I know, but after being convinced that he wasn't very likeable, it was nice to see the character in there helping out. Jeremy Sisto wasn't really in the movie after the first 45 minutes or so, which is a disappointment if you're a fan, so silly things like what I said above might hold some weight for you. I tend to have an irresistable desire to find something redeemable in any less than perfect character.
In these moments of self-doubt, where Cher realizes that being rich, beautiful and popular means absolutely nothing in the real world, her human depth shines brightly. The call of self-actualization is strong, and this aspect of the film is so clearly stated without resorting to preaching or sappiness or losing the ingenius comic momentum. Cher suddenly realizes she is in love with Josh, and Josh, who has effectively hidden his feelings for her behind the snarks and the big-brotherliness, loves her right back.
The ending just gave me the feeling that life was good and that everything's okay with Cher. So this classic gets an official A+ from me.
Cast:
Alicia Silverstone as CHER HOROWITZ
Paul Rudd as JOSH
Dan Hedaya as MEL HAMILTON
Stacey Dash as DIONNE
Brittany Murphy as TAI FRAZIER
Jeremy Sisto as ELTON TISCIA
Donald Faison as MURRAY
Breckin Meyer as TRAVIS BIRKENSTOCK
Elisa Donnovan as AMBER SALK
Wallace Shawn as MR. HALL
Twink Kaplan as MS. GEIST
and Julie Brown as MS. STOEGER
DVD info
Region 1 10th Anniversary "Whatever" Edition issued 2005
Special Features include: Tons of featurettes that include interviews with cast members and rare production pictures
LINKAGE
Teenage Wasteland: Bob Gonzalves Review
Paul's Ultimate CLUELESS Script
Back to SISTO ACT
All images, sounds, media are the property of Paramount Pictures. No copyright infringement intended. Anyone claiming sole and exclusive ownership of any media is urged to email me.
Email
