Jawbreaker

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Wickedly hilarious. [19 Feb 1999]

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Like the candy from which it gets its name, Jawbreaker is fun at the start, but can turn into a chore to complete.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A synthetic yet shrill sadomasochistic cartoon.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Jawbreaker breaks ground in one way. The movie is notably unpleasant, not just because it's morally offensive, but because it strives for this arch, artificial John Waters tone without any accompanying pay-off in wit.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The movie's gossamer-thin plot, padded with dream sequences and flashbacks to scenes you saw less than an hour earlier, exists only as an excuse for obvious homages to better films, stunt casting...and what pass for clever remarks in circles unfamiliar with real wit.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

[McGowan's] serene psychopathology is the movie's most consistent pleasure, and to see her is to both love and fear her.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

It's not particularly funny or trenchant, and its portrayal of noxious high school cliques never amounts to more than was shown in "Heathers." [19 Feb 1999]

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A slick production of a lame script, which kills time for most of its middle half-hour. If anyone in the plot had the slightest intelligence, the story would implode.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Why sit through a lesser imitation, when you could just rent "Heathers" and those other movies for a far more enjoyable time? Drop-dead bitchery? Been there, done that.

Variety Emanuel Levy

The strongest dimensions of this self-conscious but centerless film are four sexy actresses parading in colorful costumes and Amy Vincent's radiant lensing, which makes the picture seem hipper than it is.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Jawbreaker has all the heart and soul of last week's mystery loaf (a dish that made the weekly rounds at my alma mater, sadly). And like that unidentifiable bovine by-product, the film is a chilly, messy anti-treat, sweet on the outside, sickly on the in.

Film Threat Merle Bertrand

Death and comedy rarely mix, and this tedious and painfully un-funny effort by director Darren Stein is no exception.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

The film's bright look and visual energy are much more liberating than the machinations of its teen queens.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Unoriginal.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

A nasty black comedy whose relentlessly glossy exterior recalls both Araki and John Waters without the wit or smarts of either...As a black comedy, Jawbreaker has one major flaw: It's not funny.

Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams

Despite all their seamed stockings and Wonder Bras, the Reagan High girls are as far removed from their sexuality as Jawbreaker is from comedy.

USA Today Mike Clark

An air of self-congratulation hangs over the empty tank of gas called Jawbreaker, as if writer-director Darren Stein just can't wait to dazzle us with the gaudy visuals he's soldered onto a standard-issue black-comedy script.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

It’s like watching an annoying young drag queen who flubs the quips she’s stolen, refuses to shut up and thinks attitude is wit.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Stein's script is slack and tin-eared, too feeble to pass for satire, and inadequate even by lazy-pastiche standards.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It's so low it scrapes through the barrel and deep into the earth's core. It's the lowest piece of garbage to hit screens in months.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

This derivative concept movie is tiresomely slick as well as shamefully sloppy, and someone should issue a restraining order requiring writer-director Darren Stein to stay at least 100 yards away from irony.