Clueless

Plot synopsis:
Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), a wealthy, popular 15-year-old, lives in Beverly Hills with her widowed father, Mel (Dan Hedaya), in an enormous house, enjoying the luxurious life that Mel provides as a very successful lawyer. Though good-natured, Cher is naive and caught up in a superficial lifestyle revolving around expensive clothes and the social hierarchy of her school. Her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) has a similar outlook on life, though she dates a high school boy (Donald Fasion), which Cher claims is a pointless endeavor.Cher's debate teacher, Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn), gives her a C grade for the semester, which starts a dramatic chain of events. Dionne, who got a lackluster grade as well, hatches a plan with Cher to find a romantic interest for Mr. Hall, thus making him happy enough to consider boosting their grades. They select another teacher, Miss Geist (Twink Caplan), as the chief candidate, and slip a fake love letter into her mail cubby. She soon begins dating Mr. Hall, and both teachers become much more lax with their grading. Cher works her grade up to an A minus, greatly impressing her father.At home, Cher interacts with Josh (Paul Rudd), the college-age son of one of Mel's ex-wives, who often stays at the Horowitz home to avoid his mother and new stepfather. Josh and Cher usually have a typical sibling relationship, with mild arguing and teasing. Josh is nearly the polar opposite of Cher: an earthy, environmentalist, do-gooder..Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy), is a grungy artist with a trusting disposition and a clueless grasp of high school popularity, transfers to Cher's school. Cher and Dionne befriend Tai, and decide to give her a makeover to improve her social standing. However, Tai sparks up a romance with cheerful, skateboarding stoner Travis (Breckin Meyer). Cher attempts to steer Tai toward the rich and popular Elton (Jeremy Sisto), and leads her in after-school workout sessions. Josh disapproves of Cher's project with Tai, and accuses her of attempting to turn an innocent girl into a superficial brat.Through a series of subtle hints, Cher gets Tai and Elton to notice each other. Tai is giddy with excitement, and while surprisingly receptive, Elton pays much more direct attention to Cher. To present the newly made-over Tai to the high school elite, Cher and Dionne bring her to a party. Once again they attempt to steer her toward Elton, and believe that they made a connection when Tai is knocked unconscious with a projectile shoe, and Elton revives her with an ice pack. However, when departing, Cher winds up being driven home by Elton, who makes a pass at her, revealing that he had been interested in her all along. Cher is shocked and repulsed, and Elton abandons her in a parking lot far from home, where she's immediately mugged, and is forced to call Josh from a payphone to come pick her up. On the drive home, Cher suggests that they pick up food for Mel and his colleagues, who are working on a difficult case at the house. Impressed by Cher's consideration, Josh begins to form a new opinion of her.Another new student, suave and handsome Christian, transfers in. Cher is taken with him immediately, and considers breaking her own rule of never dating a high school boy. The two become friends, and attend a party along with Tai. After Christian picks Cher up, Josh is clearly envious and tells Mel that he will trail them to the party for Cher's protection. Cher and Christian bond on the dance floor, while Tai is self-consciously standing alone in a corner (watching Elton dancing with his new girlfriend, Cher's social rival Amber). Josh arrives and dances with Tai to cheer her up, which Cher notices and is surprised at his thoughtfulness.Cher decides to move things forward with Christian, and invites him over one evening when her father is out. To her disappointment, he ignores her advances in favor of watching Tony Curtis movies. When driving with Dionne and her boyfriend Murray the next day, Cher laments her situation, causing Murray to burst out laughing and point out that Christian is obviously gay. Cher is embarrassed at her misconception, but remains good friends with Christian.While at the mall, Tai experiences a brush with death as some male acquaintances nearly drop her over the rail from the upper level. Though she escapes unscathed, Tai becomes something of a celebrity at school, surpassing Cher in popularity and rebuffing her love interest, Travis, troubling Cher.Cher fails her long-anticipated driving test, and returns home dejected. Tai confides in her that she has a crush on Josh after he had danced with her at the party. Cher is confused at the feelings that arise in her at Tai's confession, and tries to convince Tai that she and Josh do not mesh well together. Tai is affronted and insults Cher ("You're a virgin who can't drive!"). A miserable Cher goes shopping to clear her head, and realizes that she herself is in love with Josh.In an effort to impress Josh, Cher collects donated items for victims of the Pismo Beach disaster, surprising him with her dedication and selflessness. When Josh and Cher help a stressed Mel out with his case by doing paperwork at the house, Cher makes an error and is insulted by an angry associate of Mel who leaves in a huff. Josh defends her, and they admit their feelings for each other.Soon afterward, Miss Geist and Mr. Hall are married. Cher, Josh, Dionne, Murray, Tai, and Travis attend the wedding, with Cher skillfully catching the bouquet.

Tags: cult, comedy, satire, entertaining, romantic

Review:
This film became the standard for a spate of 1990's high school flicks set on the west coast that borrowed many of its elements.The story focuses on Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), who is the most popular girl at Beverly Hills H.S.
But what Clueless did was update the classic story by coating it with high school drama, teenage girls and shopping and sprinkle it with heavy doses of humour.Emma is no longer Emma; she is Cher (Alicia Silverstone), a spoiled rich girl walking around in her Beverly Hills mansion in a bubble of stereotypes and teen-clichés -- but with a great big heart.
From Cher's grumpy lawyer-father (an hilarious Dan Hedaya) and her nerdy step-brother (a likable Paul Rudd) to her eccentric group of friends at school, Clueless is a superb ride of teenage comedy camp.
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.
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.
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.
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'.
(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..
A fun teen comedy from Amy Heckerling, the director of the woefully overrated Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the first two Look Who's Talking movies.
A generally quite well made, enjoyably stylish and interesting matchmaking tale aimed at teen audiences, the film manages to incorporate a number of very clever parallels to Jane Austen's matchmaking novel 'Emma' while also providing a good satire on high school life.
In short, this was quite a funny movie about teens in the '90s with many of the now-dated references and cultural fashions not too much of a deterrent of a still-enjoyable story inspired by Jane Austen's novel Emma (though I can't believe those below-the-butt styles of today was actually quite the style then as well).
I suppose that other, more important sociopolitical things were happening at the time, but all I care about is western pop culture and so should you.At the first glance, Clueless can seem like a double parody of both teen culture at the time and Jane Austen (who I hold out wrote what were effectively the original Hallmark movies).
While teen movies leading up the this relied on the trope of various cliques (Jocks, Nerds, Burnouts, Goths, Cheerleaders, etc...), Clueless both parodied and subverted those archetypes by humanizing them.While there were certainly scenes and jokes that played on those stereotypes (Travis asking if his kids would view Nine Inch Nails in the same way that he views the Rolling Stones, Murrays speech on the non-misogynistic use of "woman"), Clueless managed to make these stereotypes feel less like the two-dimensional cutouts of films like Can't Buy Me Love and more like the actual people they were based upon.Another thing I really like about this movie is how crystal clear and sharp it all seems: from the camerawork to the dialogue, the movie has a clean, witty, and polished feel that actually really adds to the feel.
It actually has some good writing to it, even though the movie in essence is still being a formulaic one.The story is all about the stuff that only was important at high school; being popular, having the right friends, dress properly, getting with the right boy/girl, struggling with grades and everything else in between of that.
Teen comedies are quite common, but "Clueless" has going for itself the fact that it transposes Jane Austen's "Emma" to mid-'90s Beverly Hills and plays with stereotypes there.
Transposing Jane Austen's EMMA to Beverly Hills, Amy Heckerling's 90s chick flick CLUELESS was a sleeper hit upon its release, spawned one less toothsome TV series, and has charmed its way with a cult following ever since.
Our heroine is Cher (Silverstone), a 16-year-old high school girl seems to be privileged of everything (beauty, youth, wealth and sagacity: knows how to give a wide berth to her inane male peers and more than willing to save her virginity for the one she will fall in love with), who has an unusual down-to-earth streak and all she wants is to be a Good Samaritan, plays match-maker to her two teachers, and determines to help an awkward blow-in Tai (Murphy) to gain popularity, and her BFF Dionne (Dash) is also on board.
Clueless is a good title for people who make films like this, not just the lead character in the movie.According to Hollywood, being a teen - as shown in this movie -- revolves only around your social life, plastic surgery, cellphones, drugs and sex.
When the messages are, for example, virginity is bad, but drugs are okay, even fun to experiment.This tale of teen matchmaking and other topics that will make an adult want to puke, does have a decent cast with always-interesting guys like Dan Hedeya and Wallace Shawn and another young "hottie" in Brittany Murphy.
You know what I hate?L.A, stupid blonde bimbos, rich people, and humour that isn't funny no matter how frickin' hard it tries.That and a criminal waste of half-decent actors in what is really an act of puerile pantomime that has no right to be recorded on celluloid.This film throws all of those truly awful ingredients together in a steaming cocktail of really, really, bad stuff.It expects us to give empathy and sympathy to a stupid blonde biatch who thinks she is, like, really smart and falls in love with, in the following order, a moron, a gay guy, and her step-brother.But in all case this is outweighed by her love for herself.This film encourages blonde halfwits with walk-in wardrobes around the world to believe they have the power and right to do what they want and that they are superior.To countermand this I reccomend a mass-culling of all things blonde and teeny-boppy.Right now..
Now, this doesn't really suprise me, after looking at the main character, Cher (who doesn't doubt that Alicia Silverstone is actually like this is real life?)  She spends all her time worrying about clothes and boys, instead of school or maybe getting a decent job.
The plot (inspired in part by Jane Austen's Emma) involves a very upper-middle class girl named Cher Horowitz played by Alicia Silverstone in her breakthrough (Jewish with a touch of Cher nameness) who wants to find the right kind of man, but is left with a bunch of slobs (duh), wants to do anything she can to get good grades, and try to keep an empty head while trying to drive.
Fortunately, that was not the case at all, it was actually quite enjoyable and heartwarming with very well written characters, a surprising Brittany Murphy and an Alicia Silverstone as her peak.While I did not bust out laughing, the movie was a nice look on how differently generations changed from the 90's to the 2010's and left me wishing I could relive that decade once more."Clueless" can be considered a timeless coming-of-age movie that is decent and genuine..
The movie - I thought this would just be a dumb chick flick and that's why I never saw it with my buds in high school when it came out, even though I was in love with Alicia like everyone else.
1990s high school set version of Jane Austen's "Emma" is pretty irresistible, thanks to writer/director Amy Heckerling's likable portrayal of young people and even more so thanks to an incredibly endearing performance by Alicia Silverstone.
The movie introduced us to the way teenagers talked back then (during a different era) and, as somebody who writes stories for my own amusement, I have often been inspired by BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and CLUELESS to emulate that particular sassy, cute speaking style when it comes to penning my own heroine.Moreover, Cher might be vain and a fashion addict and appear superficial, but she is a warm-hearted, conscientious girl who considers the feelings of others, she is not really of the Me Generation, she is delightfully old-school, because of the Jane Austen's "Emma" influence, or because Amy FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Heckerling's approach itself dates from a time when the world wasn't as self-centered as it is today.
OK, I'm kidding, but "Clueless" is such a fun film.Alicia Silverstone in her best movie role as Cher Horweitz.
She gets an urge to help others less fortunate like geeky new girl Tai (Brittany Murphy.)However one thing Cher lacks is the perfect boyfriend despite their being no lack of admirers.The film is set in a materialistic world of the super rich at high school that only exists in Hollywood.
In case you haven't noticed, the film is loosely based off of Jane Austen's 1815 Emma, a bourgeois look at marriage and fidelity, and Heckerling does a nice job of minimizing that fact just enough to where the film's target audience doesn't feel like the lights are off and they are struggling to stay awake during movie-time in their literature class.Moreover, Clueless is a film that's so easy to love but so hard to adequately describe why.
It concerns a young, high school girl named Cher (Alicia Silverstone), your average Beverly Hills girl who speaks and acts just like you'd presume a spoiled mansion girl would.
One of Cher's most recent dramatic moments of crisis is when her ex-stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd) comes to live with her and her father temporarily during the same time a new girl by the name of Tai (Brittany Murphy) enrolls in Cher's high school.
After playing matchmaker for two nerdy teachers, Mr. Hall and Miss Geist (Wallace Shawn and Twink Caplan, who are based off of Mr. Weston and Miss Taylor in Emma) in efforts to improve her lackluster grades, Cher is convinced that she can turn Tai's rather average personality and beauty into knockout-level by fixing her wardrobe and mannerisms and setting her up with Elton (Jeremy Sisto), a wealthy jock, despite her fondness for Travis (Breckin Meyer), the troublemaking slacker.Heckerling, who takes over the screen writing job as well, really works not only to keep Clueless moving at a pace that consistently keeps the audience interested, but to humanize these often dehumanized, and admittedly unlikable, characters.
Josh opens the refrigerator door before turning around and replying with, "sterilization." This kind of dialog carries throughout the film and no character here feels out of Heckerling's beautifully satirical, revealing little universe; nobody feels like they're not in on the joke nor lost in their own role.Clueless, I feel, speaks to the millennial generation and those born in the early 2000's better than anybody, though nobody would be removed from enjoying this; the familiarity of Austen's novel on older viewers and the casual depiction of the teen scene on the younger viewers is one makes this film have almost universal appeal.
However, the way Clueless moves with a certain stride in its hips, like a teenage girl with a new outfit, the way it talks, with a Californian accent that has every syllable hitting your ears in a unique manner, and the way the music, the dialog, and the mannerisms of the characters resonate so fiercely, is what ultimately makes it a winning combination of an ordinary chick flick and a biting teen film.Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, Breckin Meyer, Jeremy Sisto, Wallace Shawn, Twink Caplan, Donald Faison, and Dan Hedaya.
Dan Hedaya plays Cher's Father It looks like everybody had a lot of fun making this film..
Released in 1995, "Clueless" is a teen dramedy about, Cher (Alicia Silverstone), a rich Beverly Hills high school student who experiences the ups and downs of teen life in Southern California.
Justin Walker is on hand as Cher's potential beau, Christian, as is Jeremy Sisto; and Paul Rudd as her sometimes annoying, but always reliable ex-stepbrother, Josh.Like 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Clueless" transcends the mediocrity and pitfalls of most teen dramedies and breaks the threshold of greatness.
The film revolves around Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) a blonde rich girl who is the most popular girl at Beverly Hills high school along with her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash).
This film is a flawless Gem with an amazing, enjoyable, fun plot & amazing characters, a witty sharp script that makes this one of the best teen movies of all time!
Amy Heckerling set it in modern day (modern day 90's when it was released) and aimed I solely at teenagers.Alicia Silverstone is Cher, the most popular girl at her school.
With her best friend Dionne (The impossibly gorgeous Stacey Dash) they decide to help improve the social standing of the new girl at school Tia (The late Brittany Murphy) whilst helping two teachers find love.I really liked this movie when I saw this in 1995, however 19 years later it wasn't as enjoyable.
Cher our character has many issues in this movie,, trying to take care of her dad,, finding a boyfriend,, playing miss i'm gonna save the world,, being the most popular girl at school,, doing makeover's for her friends and the like,, all in all I thought that this was a wonderful movie to watch..
Cher comes through as a character we really adore and care about due to one major reason, her childish innocence or as the title of the movie puts it her cluelessness.The general synopsis of the film follows Cher (Alicia Silverstone) as she attempts to con and manipulate her teachers into increasing her low grades.
Clueless The worst part of being a teenager in the 1990s was that absentee parenting was 15 years away.Fortunately, the spoilt socialite in this comedy is on good terms with her single-father.When a severely un-hip chick, Tai (Brittany Murphy), transfers to their high school, Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and Dionne (Stacey Dash) attempt to turn the kindhearted new girl into a shallow shopaholic like them.On the home front, Cher's father (Dan Hedaya) has taken her ex-stepbrother (Paul Rudd) in, leading to constant bickering between the two.However, her home life doesn't stop Cher from using her matchmaking skills to pair Tai with Elton (Jeremy Sisto), who, unfortunately, has a big time crush on Cher.The quintessential deconstruction of affluent teenagers, this Jane Austin's Emma inspired coming-of-age tale is a witty and relevant representation of a naive generation.Incidentally, thanks to Wikipedia, at least today's young people can feign intelligence.
Clueless is by far one of the cheeriest, cutest, and funniest romantic comedies I have ever seen *squeal!* Based on Jane Austen's story Emma, this rambunctious chick flick centers around Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), a rich, spoiled high school popularity queen who concludes, after successfully setting up two teachers into romantic bliss to boost moods (and subsequently her GPA), that she is a born pro bono matchmaker, and sets off to meddle in everyone else's love affairs.
The ending for sure is never in doubt, but with the sharpness of tongue {the sassy teen dialect is a metaphoric joy} blending in with the air of sweetness throughout, Heckerling has crafted an alternative, modern day classic of her own.Backing up the fine work from Silverstone is the equally pretty Stacey Dash as best pal Dionne {a 30 year old playing a 15 year old!}, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Dan Hedaya {joyous as Cher's father}, Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer.
Needless to say, she'd had enough after four days but I still craved more of director Amy Heckerling's "Beverly Hills 90210"-Jane Austen's "Emma" cross-breed, this teen comedy from 1995.I'm a guy; I'll just leave that out there for you all to think about.There is something greatly charming about the beautiful, if not slightly air-headed Alicia Silverstone and her role as young Cher Horowitz.
Cher (Silverstone) is a popular, rich, beautiful 15 year old, who is Clueless over, well, most everything, except for, that is, shopping and having a brilliant time.
Teenager Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) selfishly matchmakes two lonely teachers (Wallace Shawn, Twink Caplan) to improve her grades and when that makes her feel good, she tries to transform a bad-dressing new student (Brittany Murphy) into a popular girl, only to have it backfire.What I like primarily is how relatable this is.
But that's exactly what has happened with this film.Heckerling obviously gets that Austen's continuous appeal lies in the fact that her stories remain relevant and timely---so why not update it, make the character of Emma (Cher here, played by the adorable Alicia Silverstone) a daffy valley girl, and fill the movie to the brim with pop-culture references and one very funny vignette after another?
Clueless is a time-less teen movie that even today, almost 10years on, is as relevant as it was then!.