Movie Review: Clueless (1995) directed by Amy Heckerling
Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is popular, pretty and well off, which is important if you attend high school in Beverly Hills. Her father Mel (Dan Hedaya) is a prominent litigation attorney, but Cher’s mother passed in a tragic liposuction accident when she was little. There was a short remarriage for Mel, but it didn’t work out and the only reminder of it is that Mel bonded with temporary stepson Josh (Paul Rudd), who’s now moved closer by to attend college. Josh and Cher don’t get along, but mostly tolerate each other for Mel’s sake.
Cher isn’t much for book learning, but is good at persuasion and negotiation and her heart is in approximately the right place, as seen in her poorly prepared but heartfelt debate performance on welcoming refugees to the United States. When her attempt to raise her quarterly grades via negotiation hits a snag in the person of grumpy teacher Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn), Cher comes up with the idea of convincing him and lonely social studies teacher Miss Geist (Twink Caplan) that the other likes them and they should consider dating.
This matchmaking attempt works, Mr. Hall’s improved happiness makes him amenable to a grade raise, and the entire student body benefits from the sunnier atmosphere. A win-win situation, and Cher learns that doing good feels good, so sets out on her next project, a makeover for dorky new student Tai (Brittany Murphy). That goes well at first too, initially.
But the bitter truth is that not all problems can be solved with negotiation. Sometimes you don’t get what you want, and there are people who are simply unpersuadable. Cher’s going to learn some sad lessons and have a less good time before a happy ending can be reached.
This romantic comedy is loosely based on the novel Emma by Jane Austen, with a setting change and making the main character and her social group teenagers. It did very well with young audiences, and spawned a television series.
Cher’s a fun character. She’s bright-spirited, funny, and trying her best. Unfortunately, her self-absorption (not selfishness) and failure to understand the actual personalities of the people she’s trying to matchmake often get in the way of her good intentions, and she behaves carelessly (like driving without a license) because she assumes she can talk her way out of trouble.
In some ways, this is very much a movie of its time. Nineties music and fashion is dominant, for both good (“Kids in America”) and ill (extra-baggy, saggy pants for boys). 2020s teenagers watching this movie for the first time might not realize that most of the high school students having cell phones is meant to show how rich and spoiled they are. (A good old-fashioned payphone comes in handy at one point.) Also, Cher has a personal computer which she uses…to check her wardrobe for good matches.
Content note: There’s a couple of glimpses of girls in underwear, and some of the outfits are risqué. There’s sex talk and jokes, and two of the underage characters are mentioned as having lost their virginity. Underage characters smoke and drink, and there’s reference to illegal drugs. A boy tries to force himself on Cher and reacts badly to rejection, tossing her out of the car, after which she’s mugged (no physical violence.) Tai is (jokingly?) pushed partway over a high place’s railing. One of the characters is revealed to be gay, and another is heavily assumed to be a lesbian due to stereotypes. While Cher is not ever shown to be racist, she does show ethnic insensitivity (and is properly anguished when that’s pointed out) and uses an ableist slur for herself. Parents of younger teens might want to screen it first.
Overall, a fun movie, and I suspect I would have liked it even more if I’d been in the target audience in the 1990s. Older teens who like the Marvel movies might find Paul Rudd’s performance especially interesting.
