Though narrative cohesion isn't the strength of Mean Girls, which works better from scene to scene than as a whole, the intelligence shines in its understanding of contradictions, keeping a comic distance from the emotional investment of teenagers that defined Ridgemont High and later the adolescent angst movies of John Hughes. (Like Hughes's writing, Fey's combines comic practicality and a fascination with the cruelty born of suburban privilege.)
The sureness of tone in the script achieves such clarity that our sympathies remain with Cady even as she begins to become what she has beheld. She has a genuine taste for it, the trap for all double agents. (Sometimes, the film is like a teenage version of the undercover mob saga Donnie Brasco.) But Mean Girls concentrates primarily on its eccentric and funny small touches, like an exchange between two jealous Korean girls or the electric car parked in Cady's parents' driveway.
Cady's loving but distracted mom and dad are played by Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn, who adds affection to the dizziness he shows as the janitor on Scrubs. Other Saturday Night Live cast members, past and present, include Gasteyer; Amy Poehler, flinging herself into playing Regina's desperate-to-be-cool mother; and, as the school principal, Tim Meadows, who reveals a savvy, weary dignity that he never had a chance to display in all his years on Saturday Night Live'. (These supporting performers are also skilled improvisational actors, like Fey, who shows up as a frazzled but sane teacher.)
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. For all its touches, the film does at times begin to seem as if it has the easily diverted attention span of one of its archetypal high school kids. You feel a little like a scold for wanting it to buckle down and concentrate.
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