As Patricinhas de Beverly Hills

Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is a popular ditz at her local high school in Beverly Hills. She's a spoiled, pampered little princess with all the right social connections and endless wealth. However she has yet to find a man in her life - all the Baldwins (as she and her clique of friends call guys they like) have been taken.

When Cher receives a foreign exchange student, she takes her under her wing and decides to try and find her a boyfriend - ironically without having her own yet. Predictability ensues.

I read "Emma" in early high school as I'm sure most kids did, and the movie puts a clever spin on the tale. Alicia Silverstone is surprisingly good in her role, perfectly playing a blond bombshell without a brain but a good heart - only Reese Witherspoon has done such a good job recently at portraying the west coast bimbos. (No offense to the west coast bimbos out there.) The movie's director, Amy Heckerling, has always been rather reliable on the whole and her direction is solid here - she could have turned "Clueless" into a crude, unfunny sex comedy with little wit or brains, but instead she takes a rather dubious idea for a film and transforms it into a well-made, well-acted, funny, inspired, lively, witty satire.

Much better than expected.

Just the other day I watched Heckerling's wonderful romantic comedy satire 'I Could Never Be Your Woman' and I thought I'd revisit 'Clueless'. The last time I saw it was 10 years ago and today I enjoyed it just as much. Heckerling's adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Emma' may appear like a fluffy teen flick on the surface but there is a lot more to it. It works on multiple levels and 'Clueless', in a way, is a social commentary as it reflects a reality that still exists in today's society. First of all, the teen life is very realistically portrayed albeit with a sarcastic tone (such as the striving for high grades, obsession with image and partying). It somewhat reminds me of 'Heathers' (another excellent teen satire). While 'Heathers' is a much darker film that looks at teens in the 1980s, 'Clueless' looks at the adolescents of the 90s. Moreover, Heckerling brilliantly uses different kid of comedies through one-liner and dialogue, situational, and slap stick.

Then the class distinction too is cleverly demonstrated through the eyes of Cher. The characters too work on multiple levels. Cher appears to be a popular stuckup bimbo type lass but once Hecklerling allows us to dig a little deeper, we see that she is unintentionally manipulative and knows how to use her strength (her power of persuasion). Yet, she is good at heart and even though her initial intentions of getting the two teacher together was to get an A grade, she's happy with the outcome of her matchmaking and the acts that follow are with more sincere purpose. Tai too appears to be the dumb new girl but she is far more experienced than Cher and when opportunity strikes she makes a place for herself in 'society' (i.e, highschool).

Alicia Silverstone plays the part as though it was made for her. She has the right looks, age, excellent dialogue delivery and is a total natural in performing. 'Clueless' was the film that made her an overnight star and a very promising actress however, unfortunately, her following movies have been disastrous and the actress rapidly vanished into oblivion. She is supported by an equally great cast that includes a goofy Breckin Meyer, a weirdly fashioned but still gorgeous Stacy Dash, a naive Brittany Murphy, a laidback Paul Rudd, a hilarious Donald Faison, a bitchy Elisa Donovan and a fire breathing Dan Hedaya.

For me 'Clueless' is among the top teen films along with movies like 'Heathers'. Those who childishly dismiss it as a fluffy chick-flick don't know what they missed. I was watching '10 Things I Hate About You' which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's 'The Taming Of Thew Shrew' and while that film failed to engage me for the most parts, 'Clueless' succeeds in all departments because it's much more than just another teen flick. It's a highly entertaining satire and it's a nuanced teen comedy with a subtle social comment.

This movie is another one of those feel good pictures you can't go wrong with. It's light and breezy like cruising the boulevard with the top down and it offers lots of laughs to boot.

Amy Heckerling has brought us another winner with a great supporting cast. A young teenage girl coming of age in of all places, Beverly Hills. The lead character, "Cher" played brilliantly by Alicia Silverstone, is a self centered high school girl in the beginning of the picture who's only interests include clothes, cars and credit cards. As the film progresses, she begins to mature and actually begins to care about other people, not to mention her environment. It's worth renting anytime. Just like "European Vacation" it doesn't matter how many times you see it, it still makes you laugh and that's worth it all.

I wasn't expecting much of this movie, until I started seeing it. It turned out to be quite entertaining. "Clueless" is about the shallow and rather stupid rich girl Cher Horowitz, who only cares about herself and how popular she is. But then she starts this kind of 'project', together with her best friend. One of the aspects of this project is about making a new silly girl of their school look as 'cool' as they are. This 'silly' girl is very well performed by Brittany Murphy. I hardly recognized her!

The lead role is for Alicia Silverstone who gives an excellent performance as well. Furthermore there is another great performance Paul Rudd (who we also know as Phoebe's boyfriend in "Friends"). Also Dan Hedaya and Breckin Meyer (Road Trip) are funny.

Funny and very entertaining movie from the director of "Look Who's Talking (Too). Definitely worth watching!

7,5/10

This movie is way above so many of the others of its' kind. It's consumately likable, funny, sweet and sharp- the script is a killer, and the acting is fun and enjoyable.

Part of the success of the film is due to the fact that it appeals to several different audiences, and on multiple levels.

I first watched this movie with my mom, who loved the link it has to Jane Austen's Emma- all the main characters and the plot are direct modern equivalents to the novel. For instance, the famous passage in Emma inwhich Harriet burns all her "mementos" of Mr. Elton becomes the scene where Tai does so infront of Cher's gasfire. From this perspective alone, the movie is so fun and sharp to watch- even if your forte isn't usually American Teen High School comedy!

But this movie works on a really dumbed down scale too- let's face it, not everyone is big on English literature. The movie has an awesome soundtrack, Paul Rudd is unbelievably cute as "Mr Knightly" or rather Josh- and my boyfriend leads me to believe that the same is true of Alicia Silverstone- who still sparkles 10 years later as a mid-nineties teen queen with good intentions, Cher. Her performance here is impossible not to warm too, unless you have some sort of grudge against Valley girls, inwhich case you might not like it so much. Seriously though, this film is a must see for anyone who likes some real quality comedy- I'm so fond of this film personally that I would suspect basically everyone would enjoy it.