Director: Michael Lehmann
Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Kim Walker
Have I Seen it Before: Never, and I accept your recriminations. I really should have by now, right? Given the masterful job of subversion that screenwriter Daniel Waters pulled off in Batman Returns (1992)* one would think that it would be at the top of my movies to watch decades ago.
Did I Like It: But there’s a problem. Sure, I can enjoy a John Hughes film as much as the next person, but I run into a bit of a block when it comes to high school films:
There were things I cared about in High School, but I didn’t really care much about High School itself. I didn’t go to senior prom, opting instead to catch X2: X-Men United (2003)**. In subsequent years, I have not regretted that decision in the slightest. I didn’t get a senior picture taken, and remember with great relish being threatened with being cut out of the yearbook entirely if I didn’t comply. I was truly the phantom of the class of 2003.
So, perhaps inevitably, the absolute obsession that most teen movies have with their present circumstances always rings some degree of hollow to me. If what we do in life won’t matter in 100 years, what we do in High School will—in most cases—last about twenty minutes.
So, imagine my relief when the film embraces every bit of the dark humor that Waters is capable of, and ends in survivng characters being nicer to one another, opting to rent movies and pop popcorn instead of going to the prom.
*Is now the time to talk about the abject tragedy of Catwoman (2004)? I just checked with the editor of the site and, yes it’s fine. Waters was ready to go for a second helping of Pfieffer and turned his script into Warner Bros. the very same day that Batman Forever (1995) was released, virtually guaranteeing that his script would be summarrily ignored. What we could have had…
**Is anybody else alarmed by the sheer amount of references I’ve made to superhero movies in this review? Just me. Okie-doke!