Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507250011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Amy Heckerling, who gave the world Jeff Spicoli in her directorial debut, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," has savvily hit the funny bone again with this movie about growing up rich and superficial in Los Angeles.
It's a star vehicle for sugar-spun Alicia Silverstone, star of MTV's "Best Video of All Time" (this is true) Aerosmith's "Cryin''' video and the movie "The Crush." But it's more than it pretends to be, coyly suggesting some rules for cool that even some parents might find palatable.
No. 1: It's one thing to "party" at a party (if you've got a designated driver); it's quite another thing to be zoned out for life, in general, and school specifically.
No. 2: One can recognize subgroups among one's peers. But the truly cool do not judge others harshly for their differences.
No. 3: There is more to life than the mall.
These truths are not presented in an unentertaining manner, by the way. Mostly, they are stumbled upon with ditzy, Meg Ryanish charm by Cher (Silverstone), the most popular girl in school.
She is trying to fix up two of her teachers, Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn) and Miss Geist (Twink Caplan), so that Mr. Hall will be happier and give better grades (namely, to Cher), when she discovers the joy of making others happy.
Of course she gets more popular in the bargain, and with her newly discovered power decides to make over a frumpy new girl named Tai (Brittany Murphy).
"A makeover gives her a sense of control in a world full of chaos," pal Dionne (Stacey Dash) explains.
Tai gets a little too popular, and Cher becomes confused and begins to wonder why a perfect specimen like herself is boyfriend-less. True, she compares high school boys to dogs (``You have to feed them, train them ...''), and sometimes - in what may be the funniest scene in the movie - they have to be removed from one's person like ticks. But she wants one anyway, and not even a shopping trip to Rodeo Drive can cure what ails her.
This movie is most entertaining before Cher's introspection begins. It has one of the most convincingly spontaneous high school party scenes since "Say Anything," and a witty soundtrack (the smart, sensitive guy listens to Counting Crows; the girls, cruising to school in Cher's Jeep, listen to The Muffs). Not to mention a slew of terrific one-liners.
And ultimately, it suggests the possibility of some youthful intelligence in the world of Beavis and Butthead and Ren and Stimpy. That may make it something of a fantasy film (wonder if Heckerling has a teen-ager?), but most teens won't be able to relate to Cher anyway. She's too rich and looks too much like a magazine cover.
What it may offer teens is a sense of humor about themselves, and that can't be bad.
Clueless
***
A Paramount Pictures release, showing at the Salem Valley 8. Rated PG-13 for sexual innuendo and adolescent situations.100 min.
by CNB