Wrighting Reviews

                Heathers.  Two weeks ago I didn’t know this movie existed.  I was ignorant of this incredibly dark 80’s satirical comedy with Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, and Shannen Doherty.  Now, however, my eyes have been opened to this fantastic piece of cinema.  Revolving around the popular protagonist desiring to murder her friend and tormentor, this is not a film for everyone.  If it is your taste, though, you’ll know it right away.  It was definitely in my taste and I can say with absolute certainty that this is one of the most interesting, satirical, and engaging comedies I’ve ever seen.

                So what is Heathers about and why is it worth watching?  Simply put, this is a film unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  The film revolves around Veronica Sawyer, a high school student embedded in the most popular clique in her school.  The clique, known as the Heathers, is made up of three girls named Heather and Veronica.  Veronica, as of late, feels unfulfilled by her status and wishes to befriend the more nerdy students.  However, her status, as well as her friends, prevents her from these goals as she feels stuck in her lot in life.  When she begins to take interest in the brooding Jason Dean, or J.D., her life takes an interesting turn.  The rest of the film (Which I refuse to spoil for you) is a great example comedy through tragedy, utilizing death as a tool to show the shallow elements of humanity and our tendencies to try to insert ourselves into tragedy.  In the age of social media, I can’t help but feel there was no better time to watch this movie.  The plot is unique right from the beginning, making the entire goal for the protagonist to lower her social standing.  It’s a reversal of the normal high school movie, really making Veronica’s struggles seem unique.  The characters are interesting, the situation is so fanciful yet grounded, and the themes hold up incredibly well.  The jokes are so well-formed that I can still remember a few quotes off the top of my head after a single viewing.  The styles of speech are a bit dated, but that’s to be expected in a film about popularity.  The language is of its time, much the way “YOLO” was actually a thing people said at one point.  This small transgression is meaningless in the face of such creativity and independent style.  Honestly, the plot of Heathers is enough to give an instant recommendation.

                The look of Heathers is one made with great care, and it shows.  When you look at the film, you can instantly feel exactly what the shot is going for.  Are the Heathers feeding their vapid egos over a game of croquette?  Warm colors, washed-out lighting, bright atmosphere to reflect the synthetic nature of the scene.  Perhaps we’re in a cafeteria watching the Heathers pull a prank on a sad, lonely student?  Keep the Heathers in warm colors as Veronica wears black, dim the lighting but keep a glow around the Heathers, and make sure the rest of the cafeteria is dimmed to show how untouchable the Heathers feel.  Perhaps we’re seeing someone dying by way of murder?  Darken the room, keep the killer (whoever it may be) in dark colors, keep the victim in the foreground of the frame and make sure that killer feels far from the camera.  It’s honestly incredibly strong shooting that perfectly embodies the atmosphere of the scenes.  It’s vastly differing but still universal.  I can’t tell you how much I adore all the work that director Michael Lehmann did to perfect this film.  His shooting draws the viewer in further, unconsciously keeping them locked in as the scenes all stand out in terms of style.

                Music.  Oh boy, Heathers, you tried.  First, let’s talk about the good.  The use of Que Sera, Sera as a motif, a continual element to connect with the feelings of Veronica, was a great move.  The song perfectly embodies Veronica’s desire for a new life, a new outcome to her friendship to the Heathers.  When I heard the song in the very beginning of the film, I shrugged it off as just a song for a song’s sake.  When it came back at the very end of the film, I grinned with a new understanding of the context.  The song has a lot of weight to Veronica’s journey as a character, her desires for less pressure leading her to her ultimate path.  Additionally, there’s the ridiculously amazing Teen Suicide (Don’t Do It), a song with all the cheese of a 1980’s pop song attempting to talk about a serious topic.  I have to stress that though it was made for the movie, a full version of the song actually exists.  Look it up right now, because it will change your life with how tongue-in-cheek this song is.  It’s almost as though the entire song were rolling its non-existent eyes at the general concept of a pop song talking about a serious topic.  Remember that this is when cheesy songs about genuinely serious and robust topics were coming out and you can understand exactly why the entire song seems to drip with sarcasm.  Beyond this, though…  Nothing.  There’s nothing really worth talking about in the music or sound track of Heathers.  It’s a bit of a let-down, really.  I wanted to gush about the retro charm, but most of it is only synths being…  Well, synths.  You may as well just have inserted Axel F into all the blank spots.  As much as I wanted to gush in-depth about the sound design…  There’s just not much to talk about.

                Oh, re-watch value.  How I love this category of analysis.  If a film is worth watching time and time again, it means there’s something magical to it.  In the case of Heathers, there certainly seems to be some value in a repeat viewing.  However, I can’t really see myself revisiting the film too often.  In preparation for this review, I took a few glances over the film once again to get a better feel for what I might have missed the first time around.  It wasn’t a full-on watch, but I picked up on some details.  There were specific camera shots to reveal surprises as well as color coordination for characters.  The settings stuck out to me more, as did the overall character arc of Veronica.  Despite all this, it doesn’t seem to go that deep.  This doesn’t mean it can’t be an enjoyable film to watch every now and again, laughing at some of the hilarious jokes and getting lost in interesting characters.  However, it doesn’t seem to be something you can watch more than three times before you get the full effect.  In this regard, it shouldn’t be expected to be watched every weekend.  But every few months?  Definitely.

                Heathers is a fantastic film full of great humor, interesting characters, fantastic shots, tongue-in-cheek commentary, and a unique plot.  Don’t expect to get a lot of re-watch value and certainly be ready to not remember more than two songs when you watch this, but don’t let that ruin your viewing.  Instead, sit back and enjoy a great movie.  It’s dark, it’s messed up, and it’s on Netflix right now.  Turn it on and get ready to enjoy a movie unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.  Happy viewing.