Mean Girls

Portland Oregonian Karen Karbo

Sassy and sharp.

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.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Smart, funny, well-acted and visually lively.

Slate David Edelstein

Fey's comic gifts mesh with Wiseman's first-hand research, and the wit becomes dazzling.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

The comedy is funny as hell. And yes, I mean hell, not heck.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie is always entertaining and frequently smart about the new ground one girl will break to humiliate another.

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.

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.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

A smart little teen picture that, for a change, actually features recognizable teens.

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.

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.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Bellyflops into the increasingly complicated American high school experience with a healthy reservoir of wit.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

Strikes a carefully calibrated balance between the film's darkly malicious sense of humor and its pastel sets and costumes.

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.

Film Threat Christopher Zinsli

It is Fey’s refusal to talk down to her audience that elevates Mean Girls above most other teen movies out there.

Empire Caroline Westbrook

Despite its shortcomings -- it’s still one of the better teen movies to come along in a while.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Beyond the philosophizing, Mean Girls is a standard collection of low comic jokes.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Wistful voiceover explains too much, and, even worse, interrupts the requisite Teen Movie Climactic Speech.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

All Fey does is apply a smattering of wit to the story.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Basically a watered-down collage of scenes from "Heathers," "Clueless," "Sixteen Candles" and numerous other teen flicks.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim

The film can't decide between black comedy and bubblegum comedy, so it shoots aimlessly in between.