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4.0 out of 5 stars
EYE CANDY, Jul 8 2004
There's a demonic undertone to this black comedy that delineates the cruelty of teenagers; and also, their lack of self-understanding, and their commitment to only please themselves. For instance, the scene where hunky Ethan Erickson is waiting for his beloved Rose McGowan to arrive, he tries several different poses on the bed; resorts to stripping to his underwear, and then when she arrives, she baits him with a popsicle. You can tell he's uncomfortable in licking the popsicle, but you can also see the delight in McGowan's eyes in making him suck the popsicle. When she uses this to bait him as to what he would like done, we can see the cruelty in McGowan's character.
The idea of having someone die from choking on a humongous jawbreaker is original, but at the same time, the coolness and nonchalance the girls display in their friend's death is frighteningly realistic ... to a point. Not one to bash teenagers, we do need them after all?, the movie still makes us see all the things we hated about high school.
While McGowan is excellent in her bitch queen role, her destruction at the prom is almost as devastating as Carrie's in the well known horror book/flick. Rebecca Gayheart as the tried and true Julie sinks to McGowan's level in this destruction. Julie Benz is appropriately ditzy as Foxy and Judy Greer as Fern Mayo/Vylette also well cast. Erickson is a perfect choice for the self-absorbed and hedonistic Dane. Chad Christ as Julie's dramatic boyfriend does well, and once again shows how in high school, if you are a drama freak, you're probably homosexual.
The movie falls apart in several places, but does have some good cameos from Pam Grier as Det. Vera Cruz; Jeff Conaway as Foxy's dad, who does a cute Tiffany impersonation; and wastes William Katt and PJ Soles as the victim's parents. (Ironic, they both appeared in the original CARRIE).
Not a classic, but does pack some punch in what it's trying to say, it's just afraid to come out and say it: teenagers are cruel.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
"Jawbreaker" has a good hook but then bait & switches on us, Jun 26 2004
"Jawbreaker" begins with the accidental death of Liz Purr (Charlotte Ayanna) as the result of an encounter with the titular confection. That act is the hook for a young audience to watch this 1999 black comedy but it is really just an excuse for yet another rather lackluster version of the movie where the elite young girls at a high school savage each other (i.e., "Mean Girls" without Tina Fey's wit). The problem with this movie for most people is going to be that it is going to strike them as a case of bait and switch. You think this movie is going to be something along the lines of "Scream" or "Carrie" and it is really more like "She's All That" and "Can't Hardly Wait." The accidental death sets up three plots lines. First, Queen "B" Courtney Alice Shayne (Rose McGowan) is on a mission to make sure that nothing happens to her position atop the school hierarchy. Second, good girl Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart) feels badly about killing their best friend and rethinks her membership in the elite group. Third, wallflower Fern Mayo (Judy Greer) is transformed by Courtney into the vivacious Vylette, who gets to replace Liz. There is a fourth member of the group, Marcie "Foxy" Fox (Julie Benz), but she is Courtney's loyal stooge and is incapable of independent thought. Meanwhile, Detective Vera Cruz (Pam Grier) is investigating Liz's death and is questioning the girls. The character of the detective is a pivotal one in the film because she reveals the flaws of this film. I mean, come on, we are talking about Pam Grier playing a hard-nosed detective, and she gets taken for a ride by a bunch of teenage girls who do not break a sweat. There is some confusion as to circumstances of Liz's death, thanks to Courtney's efforts, but the disturbing fact that somebody called the school pretending to be Liz's mother to explain she would be home "sick" seems to get forgotten by the time the police haul in a suspect. These are not the brightest kids to begin with and their effort to cover up their crime only works because in the end this drama has to be played out at the high school prom and not in some precinct house or juvenile court. McGowan was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for this film and she has a fine time being the cold-hearted queen of the school the story requires. But the more over the top she goes in terms of being so nasty to those she demands bow down before her that you end up wondering what is wrong with them rather than with Courtney. Gayheart does a good job of playing her uncomfortableness with what is going on, thereby grounding the movie from time to time in something resembling reality, while Benz vacillates between frightened fool and sarcastic sidekick. The cast and the performances are good, but not good enough to cover the problems with the basic story and in the end "Jawbreaker" does not finish as strongly as it started.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Just When I Thought Rebecca and Rose Had True Potential, Jan 20 2004
By A Customer
This film alone is the number one reason Rebecca Gayheart and Rose McGowen will never become top actresses or earn the respect of Hollywood. While young actresses like Julia Stiles, Kristen Dunst, Claire Danes, Christina Ricci and Jennifer Love Hewett have branched out to make films people can take seriously, actresses like Gayheart and McGowen give the " teen " scene a bad name. And that's terrible considering these so-called teens were in their thirties when this film was done. The problem is not with Jawbreaker. Yeah the movie is stupid and as entertaining as an engrown toenail, still Rose and Rebecca have kissed their futures as serious actresses gone forever. I used to enjoy both of these ladies in previous films. But once I saw this I realized they weren't even trying to be noticed as serious actresses. If they were they wouldn't have even looked at the Jawbreaker script ONCE. Jawbreaker is terrible but it's the lead actresses that should be embarrassed. Not the filmmakers.
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