Review of Clueless (1995) by Ben L — 16 May 2016

I remembered enjoying Clueless quite a bit when I first saw it 20 years ago. Now I'm wondering if a lot of that related to being a teenager who thought Alicia Silverstone was hot. The movie is kind of ridiculous with characters that are shallower than a wading pool, but it is pretty clear the makers of the film are fully aware of this fact.

They play around with how ditzy, immature, and pointless Cher's life is throughout the film. Somehow that works for me, and I manage to care about her ordeal more than I probably should. I still wonder if I would feel differently if they cast someone else in the lead role, but Alicia is perfect as Cher.

Aside from the slightly creepy feeling I get at the ending (similar to that feeling you get when Leia kisses Luke in The Empire Strikes Back,) there's only one aspect of this movie that totally spoils the experience for me.

Everything that happens with Brittany Murphy's character is tedious and irritating. I swear that every time she walks on screen I feel tempted to just give up on the film. She is probably the most annoying supporting character in a film since Lori Petty in A League of Their Own.

There's enough of a story going on without Tai that they could have eliminated her from the film, but instead we have to struggle with her popping back up every 15 minutes or so. I don't know if I'll ever watch this movie again, because I've probably grown too old to appreciate it, but it's not the worst film from the 90s to revisit.