Amy Heckerling, who directed the superb Fast Times at Ridgemont High, scores again with this high-school take on Jane Austen's Emma. Alicia Silverstone (pictured) plays Cher Horowitz who, thanks to her rich lawyer daddy, has it all. She and her school friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) decide to take new girl Tai (Brittany Murphy) under their wing and make sure she finds a date. They succeed, only to find they've created a monster...
Like Fast Times, Clueless works because of its smart lines ("Why learn to park where every place you go has a valet?"), and because the equally smart cast are in on the gag. Even Cher's father, Mel Horowitz (Dan Hedaya), a hotshot lawyer, isn't appalled at his daughter's behaviour: it's the best his money can buy and he's proud when she negotiates her grades from a C to an A. But the film has heart too: when Tai takes advantage of all the tips that Cher and Dionne have given her but without their generous natures, they deal with it in an adult way that offers some insights into their characters.
Too easily written off as a teen movie, Clueless, released in 1995, is a comedy for anyone with an ear for a good line.
Clueless is a Film programme that first aired in 1995 and has been classified a 12 certificate.
