'Mean Girls' equals nice movie

Calling the Vatican: Tina Fey should be canonized as the patron saint of girls. Not just the pretty girls, not just the outcast girls -- all girls. And "Mean Girls" should be required viewing for every girl under the age of 25. This movie isn't totally original, or totally hilarious, but it's totally necessary -- anyone who went to high school can tell the tale of girls gone mean. \nLindsay Lohan plays Cady, a "blank slate" thrown into high school. She had previously been home schooled in Africa with her parents, both scientists (played magnificently by "Saturday Night Live" vet Ana Gasteyer and "Scrubs" actor Neil Flynn), and so begins high school with no understanding of the unspoken rules that dictate teenage social life. Cady becomes friends with Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), two quasi-outcasts who convince her to secretly join the A-list Plastics in order to be their spy. The Plastics are Regina (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen (Lacey Chabert), and Karen (Amanda Seyfried), and as Janis calls them, they are "teenage royalty." Cady infiltrates the clique and makes nice -- until she falls for Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron (Jonathan Bennett). Then trouble begins. \nUltimately, the message comes across without being too preachy. The Nice Girl becomes a Mean Girl, and the audience shudders from seeing themselves on screen. Unkindness, no matter the amount, is in all of us. The movie is based off of Rosalind Wiseman's non-fiction book, "Queen Bees and Wannabes," and it's hard to say something as broad as "girls are mean to each other but shouldn't be" without breaking into a little preachiness. But Fey, as the jaded role model-teacher Ms. Norbury, makes it bearable. Fey also manages to slip in some biting social commentary, as when Regina's little sister watches nothing but MTV and "Girls Gone Wild" commercials and her mother advocates herself as a "cool mom." \nThe acting was great, even from tabloid-fodder princess Lohan. As maddening as her public persona is, she's got talent, and managed to make a potentially sappy ending touching instead. The real stunner was McAdams, who, at 28, plays 17 beautifully. She has a hysterical mad twinkle in her eye and age-bending hasn't been this good since Allison Lohman's turn in "Matchstick Men."\nSeyfried and Chabert both provide solid backup to Plastics-queen Regina, although Chabert had the beefier role. Her spastic breakdown in the middle of English class bordered on genius, and she's clearly made strides since her turn as Claudia on "Party of Five." \nSo go see it, because as cute as the movie is, it just might make a difference.