moonspinner55 Review of Clueless

Clueless (1995)

A refreshing change from the John Hughes/"Breakfast Club" generation

[6/10 · 23 December 2001]

Silky-smooth, vanilla-coated pleasure about matchmaking in modern-day high school. Far from the insufferable smugness of all those '80s teen-flicks, "Clueless" is bright--in both senses of the word--clever, funny, fanciful and yet grounded in reality (a rich one). Alicia Silverstone is adorable, but the supporting cast is affable and seemingly carefully-picked (they all get their share of funny lines, particularly Dan Hedaya superb as Silverstone's father). Seems more inspired by Jane Austen's "Emma" than based upon it, with a few mean-spirited lines but plenty of lightly innocent laugh-getters. **1/2 from ****