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76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Mean Girls

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 39 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 108 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Tina Fey
Rosalind Wiseman (book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence)
Directed by: Mark S. Waters
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 30, 2004
DVD: September 21, 2004
Running Time: 97 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, language and some teen partying
Starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Lizzy Caplan, and Lacey Chabert
Raised in the African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron (Lohan) thinks she knows about "survival of the fittest." But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when the home-schooled 15-year-old enters public high school for the first time and falls prey to the psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teenage girls face today. (Paramount Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Freaky Friday Head Over Heels Just Like Heaven The House of Yes The Spiderwick Chronicles
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
There's a sly intelligence at work here -- in the writing, the filmmaking and the acting -- that makes it deeply pleasurable to watch.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
Fey's comic gifts mesh with Wiseman's first-hand research, and the wit becomes dazzling.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The comedy is funny as hell. And yes, I mean hell, not heck.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Mean Girls has the same fancifully dead-on tone as the 1995 high-school comedy "Clueless" without the sweetness because, hey, these snits are mean.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The screenplay by Tina Fey -- head writer for "Saturday Night Live" -- is marvelously smart, though, and the ensemble cast is uncannily in sync with it.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A vinegary fable with a Splenda aftertaste -- is a harbinger of hope not only for future feminist comedies of any grit but also for ''SNL''-staffed feature films that don't disproportionately suck.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
Though not a perfect comedy, it manages to be quite often laugh-out-loud funny. The film's strong cast, including scene-stealing "SNL"er Tim Meadows as the school principal, also helps smooth out most of the rough edges.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Likable Lohan doesn't exude the vulnerability that would give the movie true heart, and Fey, head writer for "Saturday Night Live," crafts better punch lines than plots.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The plot is flimsy, but director Mark Waters (Freaky Friday) trusts Fey's tart dialogue to carry the day. Wise man. Fey subverts formula to find comic gold. She's a brash new voice in movie comedy. Boy, do we need her now.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Mean Girls dissects high school society with a lot of observant detail, which seems surprisingly well-informed. The screenplay by "Saturday Night Live's" Tina Fey is both a comic and a sociological achievement.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The movie is always entertaining and frequently smart about the new ground one girl will break to humiliate another.
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
Mean Girls depicts the kind of traumatic high school experience that might await spoiled rich girls who grow up in two-parent households with designer clothes and Escalades.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
As in "The House of Yes'' and "Freaky Friday,'' Waters keeps it wild but real, and the result is not only a series of lively scenes but lively close-ups: The big-eyed, expressive performances are just fun to watch.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
A smart little teen picture that, for a change, actually features recognizable teens.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
The director, Mark Waters, working with a smart casting team, has assembled a superb group of players. Scene by scene you can't help being impressed by Mean Girls; it's like a group of sketches linked by a theme, with some playing much better than others.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
He (director Mark Waters) keeps the story light and bright, and he brings out real comic performances from his cast, including newcomer Seyfried, who plays her ditz with Judy Holliday charm.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
Bellyflops into the increasingly complicated American high school experience with a healthy reservoir of wit.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Results in an edgy comedy, where laughs stem at times from uncomfortable situations. In other words, Mean Girls lives up to its title.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
This sassy if wildly uneven comedy navigates the treacherous high school jungle that separates cool cliques from wannabes, wading through some nasty behavior before delivering its moral message.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
Director Waters and screenwriter Tina Fey (also cast as the voice-of-reason math teacher) aim less for the usual high-gloss caricature than acutely hilarious sociology, nailing the servile malice of 15-year-old girls.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
The film lacks the discipline to stay on point all the time, but Fey and director Mark S. Waters (Freaky Friday) have fun with offbeat throwaway touches.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The limp climax doesn't undo the solid humor, wicked social commentary, and delicious satire that precedes it, but it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. In the end, Mean Girls isn't mean enough.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Isn't exactly original: This is basically "Heathers" for a new generation, its satirical edges dulled, if still sharp enough to sting.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Karen Heller
Alternately intriguing then not, and, like its subject, features a lot of lip gloss and girl-on-girl zingers. And like most contemporary movies, Mean Girls has no ending.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Lohan, in her third lead role in a year, is a good reactive young actress, and London, Ont., native Rachel McAdams is excellently evil, a dose of poison in a pretty lacquered container.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
A high school comedy that is sharply observed and often terrifically funny, yet oddly misconceived.
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
It's all very well to satirize perfect white females, but if you're sick of their attitudes why single them out as protagonists in the first place? What happened to the Asian Nerds? Or the Unfriendly Black Hotties? Or the tired teachers? Why can't we see a movie about them? [10 May 2004, p. 108]
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Pleasantly acted and moderately funny, but it lacks the genuine bile that made "Heathers" (1987) so bracing.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Angel Cohn
Strikes a carefully calibrated balance between the film's darkly malicious sense of humor and its pastel sets and costumes.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Lohan is a warm and engaging presence, but she's completely outshone by the bad girls, and when they're offscreen, Mean Girls is an oddly restrained, barely plotted movie.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Christopher Zinsli
It is Feys refusal to talk down to her audience that elevates Mean Girls above most other teen movies out there.
Read Full Review >Empire Caroline Westbrook
Despite its shortcomings -- its still one of the better teen movies to come along in a while.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Beyond the philosophizing, Mean Girls is a standard collection of low comic jokes.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
Wistful voiceover explains too much, and, even worse, interrupts the requisite Teen Movie Climactic Speech.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
All Fey does is apply a smattering of wit to the story.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Basically a watered-down collage of scenes from "Heathers," "Clueless," "Sixteen Candles" and numerous other teen flicks.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim
The film can't decide between black comedy and bubblegum comedy, so it shoots aimlessly in between.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 108 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Anna W gave it a10:
This is a great amkerican movie... Rachel McAdams do a fantastic job... Lindsay LOhan is good. Mean Girls is a fantastic movie!
kitty gave it a0:
Boring, dumb, and annoying!
James M. gave it a10:
I am a 17 year old guy and have never enjoyed any "chick flick" (for lack of a better term) in my life except for Mean Girls. I am disgusted that critics gave this movie such a low rating while raving on and on about Babel, a movie which anybody who is the least bit cultured will find ridiculously unintelligible. I guess thats what happens when Americans influence pop culture so strongly.
NyeshaF gave it a10:
You are a freaking poopooing dummy if you didn't at least give it an 8. it's actually a pretty good movie and has a great message. i own it. i own you too if you didn't like it. psssssssh
Anonymous gave it a10:
This movie never gets old, Tina Fey and Lindsay Lohan are HILARIOUS! Totally 100% worth seeing. One of my favorites.
Bridget O. gave it a10:
I think that this movie is OK, and my friend said it was awesome, here she is. This movie let you know what kind of maen girls that you could find in your grade and I just loved it!
Sarah G. gave it a10:
Brilliant film. Any person wanting to chill out or have a laugh i think you should watch it.
