Information about Clueless (film)

Clueless
Clueless poster
Directed by	Amy Heckerling
Produced by	Robert Lawrence Scott Rudin
Written by	Amy Heckerling (written by) Jane Austen (Novel Emma, uncredited)
Starring	Alicia Silverstone Stacey Dash Brittany Murphy Dan Hedaya
Cinematography	Bill Pope
Editing by	Debra Chiate
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	July 19, 1995 September 14, 1995 October 20, 1995
Running time	97 min.
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000
IMDb profile

Clueless is a 1995 comedy film loosely based on Emma by Jane Austen, but set in a Beverly Hills high school. It was written and directed by Amy Heckerling and produced by Scott Rudin. Filmed over a span of a few weeks in early 1995, the movie was released in the United States on July 19, 1995. It stars Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison, Brittany Murphy and Dan Hedaya.

The film, which in many ways defined the generation it portrayed and has come to hold iconic status in its genre, spun off a TV show and a series of books.

Tagline

• "Sex. Clothes. Popularity. Is there a problem here?"
• "Sex. Clothes. Popularity. Whatever"

Plot

A witty update of the novel Emma by Jane Austen, the film tells the story of Cher Horowitz, an airheaded yet good-natured 15-year-old (she turns 16 by the end of the story), played in what was a breakthrough role by actress Alicia Silverstone. Although happy in her complacent, self-centered world of shopping and fashion in Beverly Hills, California, Cher longs to prove herself as an intellectual and do-gooder when her granola-eating, altruistic ex-stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd) visits during a break from college. After successfully matching-up two of her lonely, nerdy high school teachers, Cher, with the help of her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash), decides that the ultimate way she can give back to the community would be to give a total makeover to a "tragically unhip" new girl at school, Tai Fraiser (Brittany Murphy).

Things begin to backfire, though, when Cher's "project" works a bit too well and Tai's popularity soon begins to surpass Cher's, especially after Tai experiences a near-death tragedy at the mall that helps to skyrocket her fame at school. Other classmates, including Dionne, as well as Cher's longtime rival classmate Amber (Elisa Donovan), soon gravitate toward Tai, leaving Cher out in the dust.

At the same time, Cher has a series of romantic mishaps with boys at school. One of them, Elton (Jeremy Sisto), thought Cher was flirting with him when she was trying to get him together with Tai. Another, Christian (Justin Walker), turns out to be gay. Cher repeatedly fails to understand the latter's subtle hints that he prefers the same sex, until Dionne's boyfriend (Donald Faison) makes it clear.

Things come to a head when Cher and Tai have a fight that makes Cher realize that her popularity has waned, her priorities are completely askew, and her romantic life is a shambles. After much soul-searching (which, of course, includes a one-woman shopping spree around various Beverly Hills boutiques), Cher finally realizes that all of her desire to do good and help others is inspired by Josh - and furthermore, she has fallen in love with him. A scene near the end of the film finds Cher and Josh stumbling over how to admit their mutual feelings for each other, finally culminating in a mutual kiss on the steps of her father's mansion.

The film has a happy Hollywood ending for Cher: her two nerdy teachers at school get married; her friendships with Tai and Dionne are reaffirmed; and, in Josh's arms, she has now finally found love and meaning in her teenage life.

Background

The film co-starred comedian Julie Brown, Donald Faison as Dionne's boyfriend Murray, Elisa Donovan as Cher's rival Amber, Paul Rudd as Cher's "ex-stepbrother" Josh, Wallace Shawn as Cher's debate teacher Mr. Hall, and Twink Caplan as Cher's mousy history teacher Ms. Geist. Caplan also helped produce the film.

The film was groundbreaking for a variety of reasons. Much of the teen slang used in the film was researched by Heckerling during the four years in which she wrote the script. The success of the film caused much of this slang to carry over into real-life usage and it is still a major part of American slang at present date.

The costumes used in the film were surprisingly trendsetting and soon became the new fashions of real life, as plaids, pastels, babydoll dresses and knee-high tights quickly became the new "thing" in young women's fashion at a time where grunge fashion was still popular. Technology-wise, new and smaller cell phones and pagers were never used so much in a film as they were in Clueless, as 1995 was a year when only the rich had such devices. Clueless marked the advent of cell phones becoming an everyday item for middle- and lower-class people, especially young people.

Additionally, Clueless was one of the few films where the majority of a cast of teenage characters was portrayed by actual teenagers (with the exception of Dash, who was 28 years old at the time of filming).

The movie had a 40-day filming schedule. Producers sat in on classes at Beverly Hills High School to get a feel for the student culture. Many scenes were filmed in Costa Mesa and Beverly Hills with most neighborhood scenes filmed in Scottsdale, Arizona. Scenes depicting the high school campus, including the tennis courts, the outdoor cafeteria, the quad, and various classrooms were filmed at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.

Characters

• Cher Horowitz

A spoiled but sweet Valley Girl type -- though she actually lives in Beverly Hills. The life of this sun-blessed Southern California teenager is free of any substantial worry. Cher knows what it's like to have people be jealous of her, not that she hasn't earned it: living in a mansion, she's the undisputed queen of beauty (and popularity, and all things in vogue) at exclusive Bronson Alcott High School. Cher is totally self-absorbed, and yet she isn't a victim; she’s tough and clever, like her attorney-father Mel. Cher and her fellow Bronson Alcott High students, particularly Dionne and Amber, look like they’ve posed for the cover of Sassy Magazine. They have long-suffering teachers who give them bad grades. Cher is not discouraged; she knows that happy teachers give high grades. Accordingly, she convinces two of her teachers that each is a secret admirer of the other…negotiating her way from a C-average to an A-average. Cher doesn’t have a regular boyfriend (she describes finding a boyfriend in high school as being like looking for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie), but she’s prone to crushes: whenever BAHS gets a new male student, she uses every wile in the book to capture him. At the same time, Cher sets herself apart from the typical air headed teen queen by taking in "hopeless" or "different" students and increasing their popularity; she does this by making over their faces and wardrobes, and by giving them boy-catching (or girl-catching, if she's mentoring a guy) tricks:

• Pretend to be having a good time.
• Pretend not to notice the guy you're interested in.
• Laugh and dance a lot.
• Sometimes you have to show a little skin, because this reminds guys of being naked, and then they think of sex.
• Mel Horowitz

This big-time litigator is always working on big cases in Beverly Hills, where he lives with his teenage offspring: daughter Cher; and her step-brother Josh. Mel is highly caring about what goes on in his kids' lives. And he's extremely protective of them, as any boy who’s ever dated Cher will verify: "If anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel. I doubt anybody would miss you."

• Josh

Josh is Cher's ex-stepbrother, as Mel had been married to Josh's mother five years earlier. Josh is also Cher's complete opposite. He has ambitions to be a lawyer (his focus is environmental law) and throughout the film routinely visits Cher and her father at their house. Josh has a residence close to his classes but claims that being with Mel is a "great learning experience". He likes to keep up with current events and is something of an environmental activist at his school. Throughout the film Josh teases Cher but at the same time shows his caring and concern for her.

• Dionne Davenport

Dionne is known as Cher’s best friend (or sidekick) throughout the movie. She and Cher are "named after great singers of the past who now do infomercials.” Cher uses her as her number one fashion critic. Dionne’s boyfriend Murray (played by Donald Faison) is a minor character in the movie as well. They undergo spats about Murray shaving his head and Dionne finding “cheap polyester hair” in the backseat of his car, but also bond over Dionne’s first driving experience on the highway.

• Tai Fraiser

Tai is the ugly duckling turned into the beautiful swan. Originally accused that she “could be a farmer in those clothes,” Cher and Dionne decide to help Tai and give her a makeover. With a change of hair, makeup and clothes, Tai gains confidence and a sense of style. Originally Tai fell for the dirty skateboarder, Travis, but Cher tried to set up Tai with “it boy” Elton to boost her popularity. After a “near death experience” at the mall, Tai obtains an overly confident attitude that ultimately poses as a threat to Cher’s high social status. By the end of the movie, Tai gains back Cher’s respect and friendship and begins to date Travis.

Comparison between the characters of Emma and Clueless

Actor/Actress	Character	Emma counterpart
Alicia Silverstone	Cher Horowitz	Emma Woodhouse
Stacey Dash	Dionne Marie Davenport	Mrs. Weston (in part)
Brittany Murphy	Tai Fraiser	Harriet Smith
Paul Rudd	Josh Lucas	Mr. Knightley
Donald Faison	Murray Lawrence Duvall	Mr. Weston (in part)
Elisa Donovan	Amber Mariens	Mrs. Elton
Breckin Meyer	Travis Birkenstock	Robert Martin
Jeremy Sisto	Elton Tiscia	Mr. Elton
Dan Hedaya	Mel Horowitz	Mr. Woodhouse
Wallace Shawn	Mr. Wendell Hall	Mr. Weston (in part)
Twink Caplan	Miss Toby Geist	Mrs. Weston (in part)
Justin Walker	Christian Stovitz	Frank Churchill
Aida Linares	Lucy	Miss Bates (in part)
Julie Brown	Coach Millie Stoeger	(none)
Sean Holland	Lawrence	(none)
Nicole Bilderback	Summer	(none)

Soundtrack

The film featured two songs by Radiohead, Fake Plastic Trees and My Iron Lung taken from the album The Bends.

Distribution

A special "Whatever!" edition DVD was released on August 30, 2005. The DVD features featurettes and cast interviews, which were all used to celebrate the film's ten year anniversary. The features on the DVD included:

• The Class of '95-A look at the cast
• Creative Writing-Amy Heckerling talks about the script
• Fashion 101-How filmmakers invented the trendsetting style of Clueless
• Language Arts-Director and cast give facts on the groundbreaking slang, and how Clueless invented the Valspeak slang
• Driver's Ed
• We're History-Stories from cast and crew of Clueless
• 2 Theatrical Trailers

Reception

It became a surprise sleeper hit of 1995, grossing well over $11 million on its opening weekend, and an additional $60 million in the US on its finishing run. It was the #32 highest-grossing film of 1995 and brought the then-largely unknown actress Alicia Silverstone to national and international attention.

Adaptations

Spinoff

Main article: Clueless (TV series)

The following year, the producers decided to create a spinoff television series which followed the continuing adventures of Cher and her friends. Several cast members from the film went on to star in the TV program, with the notable exception of Alicia Silverstone (who went on to sign a movie deal with Columbia-TriStar worth $10 million). Silverstone was replaced in the series with actress Rachel Blanchard.

Books

Main article: Clueless (novels)

A collection of books were also published after the release of the movie by Simon Spotlight Entertainment publishing company from 1995-1999. These books were published as paperbacks and aimed at young adult readers.

See also

• Valspeak, the dialect of valley girls that used in Clueless.

References

The film is referenced in Snoop Dogg's 2002 song "Beautiful" featuring Pharrell. The lyrics are: "Hurry up and finish so we can watch Clueless."

External links

• Official Site