Before there was "Mean Girls," before there was "Juno" or "Saved!," there was "Heathers." As the cult classic turns 20 years old, its devilish humor and dark satire of high school life irreverently casts as bright a light on teenage anxiety as ever before.
Sure, you may get mocked mercilessly if you sport the same hairstyles as the top-of-the-pile Heathers that rule the fictional Westerburg High School, but that's sort of the point - you would get mocked. High school hasn't changed a lot in two decades.
However, it's hard to say in equal time that a movie with as much staying power and lethally sharp wit has graced the silver screen. "Heathers," directed by Michael Lehmann and produced by Denise Di Novi, follows Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) as she navigates her new place in the most prestigious clique in school - the Heathers - made up of Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), the clique's ruthless leader, Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk) and Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty).
Veronica's crush on new kid J.D. (Christian Slater), the archetypal maverick, sets off a chain of events that leads to Veronica's realization that the group she would've killed to get into, she'll also kill to get out of.
Daniel Waters' writing, equally hilarious and off-putting, includes his own obscene but delightfully original slang that perfectly compliments the overblown reality of Westerburg.
This is no John Hughes flick. The student body's divisions are similar, but while Hughes portrays the camaraderie that underlies it all, Waters reveals the more accurate antagonisms that belie teenage hostilities. His writing is smart and shocking, confronting the public's response to teen suicides and generally commenting on the dark side of adolescence.
Ryder, at the time virtually unknown, delivers an outstanding breakthrough performance as a cunning - but less callous - Heather crony. She captures the extreme emotion of Veronica's angst-driven journal entries and creates a relatable character through her telling, well-delivered asides.
In an arguably even more difficult role, Slater treads the line between teen dream and violent psychopath, convincingly portraying a menacing, severely unhinged but deeply intriguing character. Slater's brilliance is his likeability despite his character's dangerously precarious sense of sanity and, furthermore, his ability to play a character who seems realistic without being excessively dramatic.
Overall, "Heathers" is a high school movie unrivaled in originality and social commentary. Really, there's only one thing to say: "It's really very."
You can reach this staff writer at mwasilczuk@theeagleonline.com.
