Clueless (The Movie)

Since I saw the series way before watching the movie that spun off into the television show, I had to get used to Alicia Silverstone playing Cher. I know, it’s weird considering she was Cher first, but whatever. Anyway, I decided to watch this on a random weeknight since I had nothing better to do and wanted to check it off my “Eventually” list.


It was actually pretty funny and cute. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is the daughter of a rich, successful lawyer, and the most popular girl at Beverly Hills High School. Her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) spends time with her going shopping, or talking about boys or clothes or both. Dionne pairs herself up with boyfriend Murray (Donald Faison) and is constantly frustrated regarding the ups and downs of their relationship. Elisa Donovan plays Amber, Cher’s mortal enemy, who is jealous of Cher’s popularity and tries to take her place. Then Tai (Brittany Murphy) arrives, and Cher decides it will be her personal project to turn this transfer student in desperate need of a fashion makeover into a new recruit into their elite popularity squad. But is three a welcome or a crowd?


At first, it seems like the movie is your run-of-the-mill rich airheads run the school type film. But as the movie progresses, and we listen in on Cher’s inner thoughts and feelings, we learn that there is a little more to her character than meets the eye. Although she may be passed off for being “clueless” about so many things, there were plenty of topics she remained knowledgeable about, including manipulating her way into getting better grades not only for herself but for the whole school, while making sure the teachers also won in the process. True, that may not be considered so noble and praiseworthy, however Alicia Silverstone’s acting, facial expressions, and body language all give Cher’s character the arrogance and vulnerability that was needed, with a little comedic edge. Though the rest of the cast does not necessarily have as big of a part in the movie, their supportive roles really shine throughout.


The territory of high school has not remained unexplored prior to this movie, nor has it after, but the humor elements and the clarity with which the characters’ true natures are explored give this movie a great purpose. Director Amy Heckerling was far from clueless when she made this movie, and you’d be far from clueless if you decide to watch it. Especially great for fans of the actors or the genre. I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Outsourced (The Movie)

Have you heard of this movie? I sure didn’t. It was a recommend from a friend.

With that being said, I was glad I actually sat down and watched it. I read the description and thought it was going to be an enjoyable, fun flick about cultural differences and language barriers. I was expecting comedy, but I wasn’t quite expecting the storyline.

Josh Hamilton plays Todd Anderson, a call center manager who resides in Seattle, Washington. One day, his supervisor informs him that the call center is being outsourced to India, as this will benefit the company. While this means all that are currently employed there will be fired, Todd will have the very unique opportunity to travel to the new India division and train employees there, along with his new replacement, efficiently enough so that callers will not recognize the recent shift. Todd feels guilty and frustrated about everyone in his division losing their jobs, but has no choice but to head to India for his last job. Once there, he is immediately overwhelmed by the distinct differences of this land versus America, especially when everyone pronounces his name as “Toad.” He spends his days staying at the home of his replacement, Asif Basra (Purohit Virajnarianan) trying desperately to fit in, while heading to the office at night to teach the new employees about American culture. One new employee, Asha (Ayesha Darker) boldly suggests Todd learn about Indian culture first before trying to teach them anything new and Todd decides to take her up on that suggestion. What follows is Todd trying to learn this new culture while getting the call center to be successful.

From what I know about India and the culture there, I was a bit surprised and taken aback by some of the things that were said and done. Overall, it seemed to represent everything in a positive light, but some romantic issues that were touched upon were perhaps more unusual and sometimes a bit hard to believe. I liked the way the film was structured and that it did not rely on any stereotypes one would expect to see included in a film about culture clash. The actors all performed very well, and the ones who didn’t really have any lines contributed nicely to the comedic appeal of the movie.

It is fun to watch and a nice light-hearted movie. The script, the performance, and the respectable humor all combine to give this a 4 out of 5 stars. I also heard it has spun off into a tv series (that I have yet to see). Definitely worth the rent!