Considering the apparent cult devotion to the film, I am prepared for down votes, so go ahead. I've been here for a while and can take it.
For me, the best part of the entire film is the opening and closing theme song of Che Sera Sera sung by Sly and the Family Stone. I actually date back to 1956 when it was a major hit by Doris Day and the much repeated (!) theme song of Hitchcock's remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" in the same year. As much as I love that movie, I never liked the way Doris sang it, but this version provides the perfect, serene setting that clearly telegraphs "prepare yourself for trouble and conflict because it's coming fast and furious". Perhaps the rest of the film just can't live up to the very effective first scene.
I have seen Winona Ryder in other films before, and there is just so much that any actor can do with a shoddy script. Unlike many other reviewers, I did not appreciate the trite, silly, and embarrassingly profane dialogue. My high school experience twenty years earlier was less than ideal, to make a huge understatement, but this high school, which is supposed to be somewhere in Ohio, seems totally implausible even for southern California, which is probably where all of the creators attended high school.
I haven't seen Christian Slater before, but he thoroughly annoyed me throughout the movie. Was it his odd, affected manner of speaking? The main problem, at least for me, is that Veronica, played by Ryder, under no circumstances would depend upon the disagreeable likes of the Heathers for an active social life at ANY high school in America. It is completely unlikely that she would subject her character to any of these people. Why would she do that? I missed the motivation behind her association with "friends" she did not like, but I admit that I started to lose my attention early.
Having endured, as a nation, the insane level of violence in our public schools that we have experienced in the 21st century, I had a very difficult time laughing at any of this. The Columbine incident would not occur until more than a decade after this film was made, so I suppose I understand that the general sentiments on the matter of public school violence was much different in 1988, but I'm not sure. This was difficult for me to sit through, but I was determined to do it because I knew that I would never see it again, and I still struggle to understand how it could be so popular after what we have witnessed in this country in the 21st century.
I actually know someone in real life who used to call her father an "idiot". I'm not sure if she still does. Perhaps she was inspired by this film. Observing it in real life is even more repulsive than in a movie.
For me, the best part of the entire film is the opening and closing theme song of Che Sera Sera sung by Sly and the Family Stone. I actually date back to 1956 when it was a major hit by Doris Day and the much repeated (!) theme song of Hitchcock's remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" in the same year. As much as I love that movie, I never liked the way Doris sang it, but this version provides the perfect, serene setting that clearly telegraphs "prepare yourself for trouble and conflict because it's coming fast and furious". Perhaps the rest of the film just can't live up to the very effective first scene.
I have seen Winona Ryder in other films before, and there is just so much that any actor can do with a shoddy script. Unlike many other reviewers, I did not appreciate the trite, silly, and embarrassingly profane dialogue. My high school experience twenty years earlier was less than ideal, to make a huge understatement, but this high school, which is supposed to be somewhere in Ohio, seems totally implausible even for southern California, which is probably where all of the creators attended high school.
I haven't seen Christian Slater before, but he thoroughly annoyed me throughout the movie. Was it his odd, affected manner of speaking? The main problem, at least for me, is that Veronica, played by Ryder, under no circumstances would depend upon the disagreeable likes of the Heathers for an active social life at ANY high school in America. It is completely unlikely that she would subject her character to any of these people. Why would she do that? I missed the motivation behind her association with "friends" she did not like, but I admit that I started to lose my attention early.
Having endured, as a nation, the insane level of violence in our public schools that we have experienced in the 21st century, I had a very difficult time laughing at any of this. The Columbine incident would not occur until more than a decade after this film was made, so I suppose I understand that the general sentiments on the matter of public school violence was much different in 1988, but I'm not sure. This was difficult for me to sit through, but I was determined to do it because I knew that I would never see it again, and I still struggle to understand how it could be so popular after what we have witnessed in this country in the 21st century.
I actually know someone in real life who used to call her father an "idiot". I'm not sure if she still does. Perhaps she was inspired by this film. Observing it in real life is even more repulsive than in a movie.