One of the best teen movies ever.
Teen movies can really be a terrible plague. I've had other occasions where I didn't spare them criticism, and generally it's a style of cinema that I dislike a lot for its sheer stupidity. However, this comedy about a group of spoiled rich girls is a positive example, a film for teenagers that manages to have quality and grace, while being a satire, quite critical, on the materialism and consumerism of elite teenagers.
Amy Heckerling had a brilliant idea to make a modern adaptation of the novel “Emma”, by Jane Austen. Any and all of the author's material is guaranteed to be good, and if it is well used, it usually gives good results. And indeed, the essence of this book is here: a spoiled and superficial girl who learns more about life, finds true love and the most genuine kindness and altruism. This is the transformation we see in Cher, the blonde and exuberant heroine of this film. She lives with her father, a lawyer who doesn't seem to pay much attention to his daughter but who, in fact, has a way of doing so. And it is at school, and in the complicated universe of popularity-obsessed teenagers, that Cher moves for most of the film. Rich and beautiful, she has no problem assuming herself as a leader, at the top of that strongly elitist and prejudiced mini-society that is the universe of teenagers. And she doesn't hesitate to use it to try to improve things around her.
This is the great movie of Alicia Silverstone's life. The actress still did some work later, and is known and respected, but the truth is that her career did not have such strong and relevant successes again. She embodied Cher in such a sincere and authentic way that it became difficult, from then on, to detach the character from the actress. Brittany Murphy also deserves a round of applause. She was incredibly young, but showed signs of talent and remained active as an actress until the end of her (unfortunately) brief life. Stacey Dash does what she can, but she doesn't have the time or material to shine like her peers. The film also has good performances by Dan Hedaya and Paul Rudd.
The movie doesn't have amazing visuals or great effects, nor is it supposed to. In fact, one of the secrets to its success (commercially, of course) was the fact that it had an average budget and a remarkable success at the box office. Without an unlimited credit card, the production went to great lengths to make the film look more expensive than it is, and I believe that a good part of the investment went into the elegant and seemingly expensive costumes for the three main characters, as well as the house where Cher lives, a magnificent California mansion.
