JAWBREAKER

Directed by Darren Stein

Starrong Rose

McGowan, Rebecca

Gayheart, Chad Christ,

Julie Benz

Let's face it, the high school caste system is not a pretty one. If you aren't amazingly thin, don't drive a convertible, don't wear the latest styles, refuse to cheerlead or don't put out, then you're just not popular. Join a traditionally geeky activity like drama club, marching band or (heaven forbid) math team, and you can also kiss any hopes of being popular goodbye. The definition of popularity has narrow parameters, ones which are difficult to attain but ever so easy to lose.

Teen movies through the decades have alternately embraced, lamented and spoofed this version of social hierarchical hell. The evil jocks and catty girls of Carrie got theirs in the end when good old outcast Carrie set them aflame at the Prom. The "diverse" group of a prom queen, geek, jock, basket case and criminal in The Breakfast Club learned the warm, fuzzy lesson that they can all be friends despite their social differences. And of course there is the ultimate in teen popularity movies, the brilliant Clueless, which mercilessly satirized ultra-rich Valley Girls and the high school scene in one fell swoop.

But the movie that comes closest to resembling the new movie Jawbreaker is the classically dark Heathers. In Heathers, Winona Ryder falls away from the popular crowd and under the spell of a deranged Christian Slater. Three of the most popular people in their class are murdered while the two are together, a fact that horrifies under who only wanted revenge on her ex-friends, not--gasp!--their deaths.

Jawbreaker puts a new spin on "accidental murder." Three of the most popular girls at Ronald Reagan High School "kidnap" their fourth friend, the sweet Liz Purr (Charlotte Roldan, a former Miss Teen USA), on her birthday and plan to surprise her with some innocent fun. However, their version of kidnapping includes shoving a namesake of the movie, a jawbreaker, into her mouth, covering her mouth with duct tape and tossing her into the trunk of a car. Ever so suprisingly, when they open the trunk Liz has choked to death on the sweet candy.

Panicked, the girls decide to return her to her bed and make it look like she has been raped. In the process, the school outcast Fern Mayo (newcomer Judy Evans Greer) stops by Liz's house and unwittingly overhears the girls discussing the murder. But the unflappable Courtney Shayne (Rose McGowan) makes Fern a deal she can't refuse: instant popularity in return for her silence. Thus Courtney creates the vivacious "Vylette" as Fern's alter-ego, and her homely self is cast aside.

While one of the girls in the trio, Marcie "Foxy" Fox (Julie Benz) follows Courtney's every move with adoration, the other, Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart), is disgusted by Courtney's crass shallowness and utter lack of remorse and is thus ostracized from the group. Truly a person left to "the Karen Carpenter table, "Cue camerapan over to a table containing several emaciatedgirls sitting bleakly with no food in sight. Moresubtly, as the girls create a crime scene in Liz'sbedroom with the corpse, the song blaring in thebackground is, ironically enough. The Cars "LetThe Good Times Roll." It's at those moments whenJawbreaker lives up to the classicdefinition of a "black comedy."

But moments like that are few and far between,mostly because of the absolutely chilling andmesmerizing performance by McGowan. She playsCourtney as a classic bitch, the type of girl notbothered by anybody or anything. Neither pressurefrom the police about the murder (Pam Grier as afirst-rate tough cop), nor having sex with MarilynManson (McGowans' real life boyfriend, thoughfrighteningly sans makeup in the movie) in Liz'sbed while her corpse stagnates underneath it,unnerves her.

It's her performance that makesJawbreaker more of a horror film thananything else. Courtney is unstable and brash, andthough Liz's death was an accident, another murderat her hands would not be inconceivable. Thehorror movie element is intensified by theperiodic dizzying flashbacks with stop-actionfilming and bizarre lighting that highlights Liz'sbruised body and the discovery of her body by herparents. And of course, the mere setting of highschool alone also makes this film fit the horrorgenre. If it isn't a ghastly retainer (worn byper-"Vylette" Fern) or snobby cheerleaders (one ofwhom is played by Tatyana Ali '02 ), then it'sthe feeling of alienation felt by Fern that fuelsher wish to be somebody other than a nobody.

The movie as a comedy falls short of its goal.While there are moments of comic relief, feelingsof disgust and revulsion overwhelm any possibleamusement. Additionally, a formulaic script leaveslittle for character development. Only Fern,(Whose desire to have friend is heartbreakingbecause her honest plights is ultimately taintedand controlled by Courtney), and Courtney herself,are characters which make you feel something otherthan neutral toward them.

Ultimately, no new ground is really broken byJawbreaker. It's not a terrible movie, butits frankness, blunt honesty and morbid subjectmatter render it a movie for those with strongstomachs and an even darker sense of humor. Itsone triumph is its success in pinpointing the oneuniversal truth of high school. Forget Satan andall of his minions; the embodiment of pure evil inhigh school wears dark lipstick and miniskirts.