Jawbreaker (1999)

Jawbreaker is by no means perfect. It's tacky, there's questionable performances and it's sometimes unclear if it's a teen film or a dark comedy. But i LOVE it. Baring in mind this was '99, the concept of the film is spot on and paved the way for dark comedies and teen films for the next 20 years. Jawbreaker definitely holds cult status, it's satire may be lost on some audiences as it pokes fun at American youth culture, but fans of Mean Girls and female-led casts will love this nevertheless.

Fmovies: 10 Reasons Jawbreaker is an Awesome 10/10 film:

1. Jawbreaker subverts teen movies of the 90s with style and sass.

2. One for the Horror fans because it is packed with cool horror movie references such as Carrie and Nightmare On Elm Street.

3. It takes film style cues from John Waters' films, 90s flicks like the Doom Generation and 80s and 90s Hong Kong films like Chungking Express.

4. Totally original take on Noir. Jawbreaker is noir lighting and film stylings in the pastel shades of a jawbreaker rather than black and white it was never really done before never really done since.

5. Costume/ Fashion: Jawbreaker imagines a 90s that never was, neon latex and leather meets 1950s and 1960s cardigans and cars all in sickly shades. Punk and Gothic vibes leap from remixes of 90s beauty styles. It is hardly surprising Jawbreaker is so iconic amongst fans of drag.

6. Reinventing a genre. Whilst without the awesome movie Heathers there would be no Jawbreaker. Without Jawbreaker there would be no Mean Girls and no Neon Demon. Jawbreaker succeeded in not only subverting a genre it expanded upon it and influenced a huge number of films since. Whether directly or indirectly.

7. Great cast! Rose McGowan, need I say more?

8. All Killer No Filler - at 87 minutes the film races forwards and you could never get bored.

9. Exploring female power fantasy, pressures on young females, bullying of teenage girls and female teen sexuality in a ways that a rare and well done.

10. Cool soundtrack and music references such as Marilyn Manson's Cameo.

When you watch "Jawbreaker," you can't help but sense echoes of "Heathers," "Clueless" and "The Craft." So it is a bit of a derivative teen bopper flick. But it's not a total rip-off and does stand on its own two feet.

However, it's a fun movie. And it has a great soundtrack, which I have. I love the use of the song "Rock Me Like a Hurricane" in the Marilyn Manson cameo. Pam Grier also had an interesting bit role, as a tough-as-nails private investigator. "Jawbreaker" has its flaws, but it's fast-paced, energetic and sometimes pretty funny.

The only big letdown was the ending. Couldn't they come up with something more torcherous to do to Courtney? Evidently, the writer Darren Stein was too anxious to complete the script and pasted on this snappy, thoughtless ending.

Jawbreaker fmovies. Jawbreaker gave me the feeling of high school comedy meeting a exploitation b-movie, kinda like Mean Girls meets Death proof, or Heathers meets Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! I wasn't entirely wrong, even though I don't think I can compare Jawbreaker with either Death Proof of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Heathers is such a cult movie on its own, it's easy to compare Jawbreaker with it. Both involve bitchy high school girls, murder and dark humour.

I find myself loving these kind of movies with black humour. They are stupid, absolutely, but for some reason they are absolutely hilarious. You just know people are going to hate the movie, and it's just part of the fun.

The story is horrible yet so absurd it's almost funny. Of course the kidnapping gone wrong seems highly unlikely, yet it also feels plausible. I feel like I should be telling my friends not to try to kidnap me for my birthday. The characters aren't written so well, but they are fun. They are the typical archetypes of high school movies. Rose McGowan plays the most devious high school bitch I've ever seen in a film, and Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz and Judy Greer all pose as different kind of characters of the same type. I would've loved to see more of some characters, especially Vera Cruz portrayed by Pam Grier. When I saw her, I thought her part was going to be bigger. I was disappointed.

The dialogue in Jawbreaker was just as good as in Heathers. It isn't actually realistic, because the language is extremely colourful, and no one would say several lines from this movie out loud because it wouldn't sound good in any context. But it works in a movie.

There are so many details in this movie I love, but one thing I have to mention is the effects when the scene changes. Like the whole movie, they are stupid, but that's part of Jawbreaker's charm.

If I had to recommend few songs from the soundtrack of Jawbreaker, I'd say Bad Word For A Good Thing by The Friggs and (Let the) Good Times Roll by The Cars. All the songs were well chosen and they worked. And some of the songs (especially the two mentioned) are like they could be straight from my music library. I love it when this happens while watching a movie.

Jawbreaker is stupid but in a funny way. It's obviously dark, so if you have the tendency to get angry at the jokes being too dark for you to enjoy them, then don't bother. I love this film and I want more!

Am I horrible if I wanted this to be more violent?

Jawbreaker is a copy of a copy. It takes plot points from Heathers, Carrie, and uses some originals of it's own to create itself. It's not a bad film. Actually one of the better teen films I have seen recently. It reminds me of a much more recent film I saw a few months back called Mean Girls. Of course that came five years later. This one has all very beautiful, and perky actresses that flood the screen at one time, much like Mean Girls. But Mean Girls was a film that was much more tame and lit the screen up. This one falls under a dark comedy.

Let me just say I love Rebecca Gayheart. I had a childhood crush on her, and she's probably the reason for my love behind Santa's Slay. She's gorgeous, one of the most beautiful and underrated actresses in the business today. She gets a promising, and an effective role in this film. From her constant beauty on screen, to her sassy ways in the later parts of the film, she finds ways to surprise me. Very worthy, respectable part for her.

The plot is about three teen girls named Courtney (McGowan), Marcie (Benz), and Julie (Gayheart) who, as a birthday prank, gag their friend Liz with a jawbreaker, and throw her in the trunk of their car. They drive for a brief time, before stopping at a diner, and opening the trunk to realize she is dead. She had swallowed the giant jawbreaker, and now the girls realize their stunt has gone wrong.

To avoid trouble, Courtney calls Liz in sick, and they go to school like normal. Courtney (pretending to be Liz's mother) on the phone to give one of the girls Liz's homework for the day. The principal gives Courtney the homework, which she forgets, and another student named Fern Mayo (Judy Greer), a nerdy bookworm, is sent with Liz's homework. Fern absolutely adores Liz and her beauty, so upon arriving to Fern's house and entering, she finds the girls trying to cover up Liz's corpse with a faulty rape story.

Fern now knows a secret that shouldn't have been told. She has the power of blackmail. Courtney assures the crew that Fern will become the missing link in the "Flawless Four". They give Fern an amazing makeover, which she quickly takes to her head. Who could blame her? This is her first time she's been noticed. She's bound to let the newly given makeover get blown out of proportion. In the meantime, Courtney rejects Julie because of her wanting to do the right thing, and not take Fern for granted. Courtney basically says "you're out bitch!" and shuns her out of the picture. Courtney, Marcie, and Fern (now Vylette) are on their own. Hiding from a dark secret.

Upon it's release, Jawbreaker was met with negative reception because of it's dim-witted cast and copycat like plot. While it does sample from other movies, like stated above, it finds ways to be unique and clever. It throws in some original material of it's own. I love movies about teenage girls. Not just coming-of-age films, but films where high school girls are their own worst enemy. Where they are both the protagonist and the antagonist. What fun these movies bring! Starring: Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz, Judy Greer, Ethan Erickson, Carol Kane, Pam Grier. Directed by: Darren Stein.

This movie totally rocked!! I thought this movie had great punch-lines, great style, great music, and above all an AWESOME cast. Rose McGowan is great in this movie, along with newcomer Judy Greer. Julie Benz and Rebecca Gayheart also are good in this movie. This movie sort of put a twist on the teen sensation, along with an R rating and TONS of sex appeal. Overall, I give this movie ****1/2 of *****