Clueless - Movie Review

Several books have become classics since they were first published. Some of those books have been turned into movies. A few of those movies have stayed very close to the source material and others have been changed a lot and made into modern versions of the stories. Clueless was one of the modern versions of a classic novel that turned out to be very good.

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Cher and her best friend Dionne were two very popular girls in their high school class. They were both obsessed with fashion and not as concerned with their grades. Dionne was dating Murray while Cher was single because she didn’t like high school boys. Cher decided to fix up her speech teacher Mr. Hall with another teacher, Miss Geist, as a round about way of getting a better grade in speech.

Tai was a new girl that Cher decided to give a make over as a project. She then decided that Elton, one of the most popular boys in the class, was perfect for Tai and set about pushing them together and convincing Tai that Travis was not good enough. After that plan blew up in her face, Cher then decided to focus on her own love life by going after Christian. At the same time, she was dealing with her older former stepbrother Josh being around the house a lot to help her father Mel with a law suit.

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When I first saw Clueless, I didn’t pick up on the fact that it was somewhat based on Emma by Jane Austen even though I had read the book and even had to write a very long paper on it. Once I knew the movie was based on that book, I could see the similarities between the two. Obviously there were differences between the two, mainly because of the fact that the movie was set in modern times. I do think that the movie made a good modern version of the book.

Clueless featured many teenage characters and was mostly focused in on them and their lives. This wasn’t the first teenager/high school movie that director Amy Heckerling made. Her movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, is considered to be one of the better high school movies ever made. Clueless was very different from that earlier movie even though both did deal with high school students. Cher had a privileged life and went to a very upscale school that I think was in Beverly Hills. Much of the things dealing with high school did seem realistic, like how there were different groups of students who didn’t interact with each other or even like each other. There was a very definite pecking order in the school with the popular kids like Cher and Dionne controlling many things. Heckerling created a lot of slang terms that the kids used throughout the movie that did sound like they were terms actual teens would use. I think some of the terms actually were used after the movie was released. The movie was successful enough for a television show to be made as well. I think it was on for a few years.

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Clueless had a good amount of humor throughout the movie. Most of it was provided by Cher in some way, usually by something she said or did. Cher wasn’t the brightest person, which caused her to have no clue about some things. Her unique way of thinking and dealing with things did add a lot of the humor to the movie. Her father Mel also had several lines that I thought were funny. It didn’t seem like he was trying to be funny, but he was. Much of the movie was poking fun at teens and high school life in general. I did think those things were funny as well. Some people might find some things in the movie to be too silly.

Relationships played a fairly large part in Clueless. Dionne and Murray were already dating when the movie started. They had some disagreements, like when he decided to shave his head, but they were happy overall. Cher spent a lot of time plotting to get other characters together, first Miss Geist and Mr. Hall and then Tai and Elton. Cher never thought that she was wrong about the couples she was trying to put together and didn’t see anything wrong with manipulating things to get the results she wanted. She also spent some time trying to get Christian interested in her by doing things like sending herself candy and flowers. A few other relationships also turned up during the movie. There were a few sexual discussions and a few minor sexual situations that really didn’t go anywhere. Really all that was shown was a few kisses.

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Cher was a very popular, fashion obsessed girl who seemed to feel like everything was about her in some way. Part of that might be because her father had spoiled her a bit after her mother died. Most of the time when she did something to help someone, it would also help her in some way. Cher provided some voice overs throughout the movie that did help to explain certain things. I believe that this was the role that launched Alicia Silverstone’s career. Dionne had a lot in common with Cher like being spoiled and fashion obsessed. Dionne also wasn’t the smartest, but she was likable for the most part. Stacey Dash was fine in the part.

Tai was the new girl in school who didn’t fit in before Cher and Dionne decided that giving her a make over would be a good project for them. Tai said things that made it clear that she had done things in the past, including drugs. She was nice enough, but could be hurtful. I believe that this was the first big part for Brittany Murphy as well. She later went on to lose weight and go blonde around the time when she really became popular. Amber was a very stuck up girl who wasn’t nice at all. It didn’t seem like many of the classmates liked her. Elisa Donovan was fine in the part. Elton was the popular guy that Cher believed was perfect for Tai. It turned out that he wasn’t that nice. Travis was mixed up with drugs and in trouble fairly often at school.

Christian was the boy that Cher decided was good enough for her to date. He only spent part of the school year there because of his parents being divorced, so his first appearance was later in the movie. Josh’s mother had been married to Cher’s father for a while. Even though the marriage had ended, Josh still hung around the house at times and he was working with Mel on a law suit. Paul Rudd did a good job with the part. I really liked Mel. He ended up with some of the best lines and Dan Hedaya was great in the part. He is probably best known for playing Carla’s loser ex-husband on Cheers. Mr. Hall was the speech teacher who Cher decided needed a woman to be happy. He seemed like a nice guy even though his part was kind of small. Miss Geist was the teacher Cher decided would be perfect for Mr. Hall. Miss Geist was really nice, though sort of a fashion disaster at first.

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Main Cast

Twink Caplan - Miss Geist
Stacey Dash - Dionne
Elisa Donovan - Amber
Donald Faison - Murray
Dan Hedaya - Mel
Breckin Meyer - Travis
Brittany Murphy - Tai
Paul Rudd - Josh
Wallace Shawn - Mr. Hall
Alicia Silverstone - Cher
Jeremy Sisto - Elton

Amy Heckerling - Director

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Clueless was a fun, entertaining movie that is worth watching. It is a little silly at times, but it is still enjoyable.