Heathers has to be one of the darkest, most sharply written films of the 20th Century. The fact that its humor and horror holds up so well today is astonishing, and perhaps an indictment to how gutless Hollywood has become in the years since it was made. There will never be another teen satire so bold, so mean, and so dang funny.
So we have this smart teen girl who's depressed, trying to break into the popular clique at her school known as the Heathers. Veronica hates her so-called best friends but submits to being treated like a lackey to do their bidding--we never really find out why exactly, or what she is getting in return. She seethes in her diary about murder fantasies but of course, as the protagonist, she would never...oh wait, what's that? A handsome and mysterious new guy who looks like a young Jack Nicholson? It takes about 20 minutes of film time to turn her around so that we the audience now question if there ARE any "good guys" left here.
The buildup of horror mirrors the buildup of quotable hilarity as the body count for the "suicides" at Westerberg High climbs.
Much has been written about the cultural satire of Heathers: writer Daniel Waters takes aim at John Hughes-type teen films, life in high school, political correctness invading the teaching system (via aging hippies), religious hypocrisy, clichés of detached parenting, and homophobia. It's a deadly and accurate aim, and the slaughter of pop culture is widespread.
Each lead actor is right on target. Winona Rider plays Veronica to the hilt as the witty and likable anti-hero, and there could have been no better actress for the role. Christian Slater is the wry and charming Bad Boy, J.D.--the agent of chaos you can't help but agree with even as you have a nagging feeling that you shouldn't. Kim Walker is an amazing Heather #1, Shannen Doherty knocks it out of the park with her power-hungry performance as the next Heather who yearns to be the alpha of the pack. They all turned in what I consider to be the best performances of their careers in Heathers.
It's not for the faint of heart, nonetheless; I urge you to see this movie. Look past the '80s fashions and you have a film that could have been made about high schoolers today, or in any era...except that it isn't going to happen, ever again. We've grown into such wimps we don't dare like this anymore, for fear of offending perhaps, or for fear of (gasp) making people uncomfortable about some of the truths of our own hypocrisy. Where's the Michael Lehman/Daniel Waters of this generation? We need him more than ever.
So we have this smart teen girl who's depressed, trying to break into the popular clique at her school known as the Heathers. Veronica hates her so-called best friends but submits to being treated like a lackey to do their bidding--we never really find out why exactly, or what she is getting in return. She seethes in her diary about murder fantasies but of course, as the protagonist, she would never...oh wait, what's that? A handsome and mysterious new guy who looks like a young Jack Nicholson? It takes about 20 minutes of film time to turn her around so that we the audience now question if there ARE any "good guys" left here.
The buildup of horror mirrors the buildup of quotable hilarity as the body count for the "suicides" at Westerberg High climbs.
Much has been written about the cultural satire of Heathers: writer Daniel Waters takes aim at John Hughes-type teen films, life in high school, political correctness invading the teaching system (via aging hippies), religious hypocrisy, clichés of detached parenting, and homophobia. It's a deadly and accurate aim, and the slaughter of pop culture is widespread.
Each lead actor is right on target. Winona Rider plays Veronica to the hilt as the witty and likable anti-hero, and there could have been no better actress for the role. Christian Slater is the wry and charming Bad Boy, J.D.--the agent of chaos you can't help but agree with even as you have a nagging feeling that you shouldn't. Kim Walker is an amazing Heather #1, Shannen Doherty knocks it out of the park with her power-hungry performance as the next Heather who yearns to be the alpha of the pack. They all turned in what I consider to be the best performances of their careers in Heathers.
It's not for the faint of heart, nonetheless; I urge you to see this movie. Look past the '80s fashions and you have a film that could have been made about high schoolers today, or in any era...except that it isn't going to happen, ever again. We've grown into such wimps we don't dare like this anymore, for fear of offending perhaps, or for fear of (gasp) making people uncomfortable about some of the truths of our own hypocrisy. Where's the Michael Lehman/Daniel Waters of this generation? We need him more than ever.