Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The previous time I checked (and for a long time before), the "most helpful" reviews of MEAN GIRLS were hanging in or slowly increasing in the 50s or so range of "helpful votes". Then suddenly today I looked and the "most helpful reviews" of MEAN GIRLS show over a thousand "helpful" votes for the highest and hundreds of "helpful votes" for many others. As for the now "most helpful" reviewer, who said he "caved in" and saw the movie, one can only wonder if a bunch of his friends also caved in and flooded the site with votes; only it wouldn't just be for him; so many other OLD and NEW reviews suddenly far exceed the 50-some votes held by the reviews most highly rated just awhile back. And those last-mentioned reviews ARE probably the most intelligent ones, I think, and their ratings have hardly increased. Some of the most insightful comments were by those reviewers, including Robyn Jamil-Walid, Tanya Jasmine Tucker and Ashley Judd (probably NOT the actress by the same name; the review is way too smart). As for the movie, I suspect it has a good chance of being sadly, Lindsay Lohan's last really good movie. It came out about when a firestorm of Lindsay-bashing was suddenly becoming the in thing. Whether the bashing was at all deserved, it's sad as it will no doubt affect how Lindsay will be perceived as an actress and what roles she'll get. MEAN GIRLS may be the last time her talents will be appreciated for what they are in casting. And if her alleged spiral of self-destructive behavior, starting about the same time the film came out, is really anything that it's cracked-up to be, it will sadly adversely affect her in various ways, including probably her acting ability. One can hope Lindsay will recover some of her remarkable acting talent and appreciation for it for what it is, but if not, that is all the more reason to cherish this movie for possibly the zenith of her career. This is Lindsay at her best, for all said by one mysteriously enormously highly raated review, that calls it "so not Lindsay". Her performance is likeable as a not perfect, but generally good-willed high school student struggling to fit in with no prior experience in formal schooling. But also essential to making the movie work are performances as the other students, most notably Regina, Gretchen, Karen, Janis and Damian, but some students with only bit parts are also quite impressive. They form an image of high school that I dare say many of us can relate to, even if criticisms that the movie is less that squeakily realistic are judged to have some value. If one's memories of high school include being tormented by "queen bee" types like Regina, then one must surely find this film gratifying. If one does not so relate, one must, to be honest, suspect that that person WAS more like such a "queen bee" type, in which case such a person also deserves to see this movie, even if it hurts. If there is a weak point in the movie it is in Tina Fey's unfortunate decision to be both the screen writer and the one who plays the character she most set out to make the film's voice of wisdom. The results of trying to make her character that are faltering at best, and indeed lend credibility to the criticism in one review that the movie is Tina Fey's vanity project.